Karnataka keen to promote its handcraft and handloom products to tourists visiting Maldives: CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday offered to establish trade ties with Maldives to promote the state’s handicrafts and handlooms for tourists visiting the archipelago nation.

Siddaramaiah met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, who was hosted for lunch by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan.

“...we would be happy to have trade ties with Maldives to promote the marketing of our handicrafts and handlooms to reach out to a large number of tourists visiting Maldives,” Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah also discussed partnering with Maldives in the IT sector. “I am given to understand that the government of Maldives is interested in having partnerships with the leading IT industry of Bengaluru. We are known as the Silicon Valley of India and have developed an ecosystem for start-ups, Artificial Intelligence, global capacity building centres as well as an innovation hub. We will be very happy to facilitate the growth of the IT industry in Maldives,” he said.

The CM further pitched a partnership with Maldives for educational and cultural exchanges. “Our tourism tagline is ‘One State, Many Worlds’. Apart from almost 300 km of coastline, we have the world’s second-largest shola forest hosting tiger and bird sanctuaries,” he said.

First Lady’s Bengaluru connection

During his address, Siddaramaiah noted that the First Lady of Maldives Sajidha Mohamed, the President’s wife, was a student in Bengaluru. She studied a bachelor’s programme at St Joseph’s College, which is now a university. Later in the day, she visited a saree shop on MG Road.