SPEECH
BY THE PRIME MINISTER AT THE FOUNDATION STONE CEREMONY OF THE
FACULTY OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM STUDIES
Following
is the text of the Prime Minister’s speech at the foundation stone
ceremony of the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies.
``Today,
we embark on a significant joint enterprise of capacity building
in the tourism sector of Maldives.
Excellency,
Even
in my brief stay in your country, I have been truly impressed
by the prominence which Maldives has achieved on the international
tourist map. It is a remarkable success story that you attract
to your resorts twice the number of foreign tourists as
your total resident population.
Undoubtedly,
nature has blessed you with spots of great scenic beauty. But
the rest of the story is entirely man-made. You have built a tourist
infrastructure of world standards. You have maintained political
stability and a law and order regime, which protects the safety
and security of the tourist. And finally, you have kept alive
your tradition of warm and friendly hospitality towards your guests.
It
is entirely logical that you should now seek to establish a qualified
faculty to indigenously develop specialized managerial capabilities
in the hospitality sector. India is proud to join you in this
project.
The
Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies is expected to be established
in its new premises within 3 years. However, knowing your keenness
to create skilled capacity urgently, I have asked our Minister
of Tourism to work for the early commencement of the training
courses. If this suits your requirements, and if some temporary
premises can be found, the first courses of this Faculty could
commence within a few months from now.
Excellency,
Our development
cooperation with Maldives already has two strong pillars in the
Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and the Maldives Institute of
Technical Education. We hope that the Faculty of Hospitality and
Tourism Studies will soon join them as a third pillar of the strong
India-Maldives development cooperation.
Thank
you.’’