PANJIM: The State Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to establish a sister-state relationship with Hawaii, USA, that will result in exchanges on various fronts. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the two States shortly.
The Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar granted its nod for the drafts of the MoU to be signed between the two states, for promotion of trade, tourism, education, yoga, etc.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Parrikar said the proposal was mooted nearly two and a half years ago. “When I was Defence Minister I had visited the Pacific command. Tulsi Gabbard, member of the US Congress has tremendous attraction towards Indian culture. She had proposed the sister-state relationship between Goa and Hawaii,” he said. Gabbard had visited Goa in December 2014.
The Department of Art and Culture was appointed as the nodal department and its director, a nodal officer to liaison with the Hawaii counterpart. Parrikar said the MoU has already been vetted by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Goa is an international tourist destination, while Hawaii is America’s tropical island state and also a tourism destination.
As per the agreement, cooperation between Goa and Hawaii will contribute to improving the standards of the lives and well-being of the people. “The cooperation between both states would be in the field of trade, tourism, sports, technology, pharmaceutical and cashew wine business, cultural, culinary and educational exchange, yoga, ayurvedic and ancient Hawaiian Lomi massage, skill development, agriculture and fisheries and art and culture,” he said.
The cabinet also approved the proposal to have a joint working group to further elaborate the details of cooperation and to oversee the implementation of this agreement.
