GS PAUL
Amritsar, December 5
With a view to opening doors for an exchange of culture, tourism and commerce between Mexico and Punjab, a team of five Mexican citizens, under the banner of INDMEX Business International firm, has arrived in Amritsar to explore mutual ventures in cloth designing, food and beverages.
The initiative is being led by Xochilt Resendiz Sidhu, representing the Mexico Government and his husband Dinesh Singh Sidhu, belonging to the renowned family of Shyam Singh Attariwala, and a native of Attari, a border belt in Amritsar.
Gurbir Kaur Nijjar, wife of Cabinet minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, was the chief guest on the occasion.
Xochilt said she focused primarily on women empowerment. Under the programme, she intends to give job and business opportunities to women, especially those belonging to the deprived section of society or needy ones.
She was born and brought up in the north part of Mexico, but after marrying a Punjabi, she was well-versed with Punjabi culture and talent.
“I know that Punjabis are resourceful and command their expertise in clothing and food preparations. I am backed by the Mexican Government, especially the tourism ministry, to promote the culture of Mexico in Punjab. Our aim is to bring in the Mexican designers and restaurateurs in Punjab to have them mingled up in Punjab’s culture and the vice versa. This will open scope for business and job,” she said.
Asked why Amritsar was chosen to launch the programme, she said, “It’s the place where the Golden Temple was located, which is the pride of not only the Punjabis but people from the whole world who come to pay obeisance here. What better place, other than Amritsar, could be on this earth, from where we could kick-start our project with the spiritual blessings?”
Dinesh, who owns INDMEX Business International firm, said a pact was soon going to be signed with the Punjab Government to promote this venture. “The Mexican Government has tied up with our firm to promote its culture. We are directly attached with the offices of President and Tourism Minister of Mexico. Our aim is to promote handicrafts, tourism and culture by offering job opportunities, especially to needy women, to make them self-reliant. Similarly, we will organise culture programmes in which we plan to bring Mexico dance troops here and take our bhangra teams over there. The aim is to give a boost to tourism by way of such activities,” he said.
Angela Nata, a famous dress designer, believed that the hand-made clothing could be an apt venture to start with from Punjab. “I am fascinated by the traditional Punjabi designs, embroidery and hand painted jobs,” she said.
Angelas Godoy, who is also into the fashion industry and designs for various dignitaries, foresees a lot of scope in Punjab. “I too have seen the traditional Punjabi outfits. We can explore Mexican painting combined with Punjabi embroidery,” she said.
Elizabeth Trevino, who runs a chain of seven restaurants in the US, was enthusiastic to try hand on Mexican dishes with Punjabi fusion. With over 17 years of experience in the food business, she aims to offer franchises here and create job opportunities for the local chefs.
“Mexican and Punjabi dishes are almost identical in taste. I will present the Mexican dishes here with Punjabi ‘tadka’. We have investors, a team of cooks to train the aspirants who want to join our initiative,” she said.
