The 23rd Meeting of the Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) Tourism Working Group will take place in Ankara, Türkiye, from 24-25 September 2024. The Chefs Guild of Maldives has been invited to be part of the Maldivian delegation to this meeting by the Ministry of Tourism.

The theme of the 23rd Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group is “Developing and Branding Gastronomy Tourism Destinations within OIC”. The working group will deliberate on the current state of gastronomy tourism development and branding within OIC Member Countries and identify key challenges based on case studies from Uganda and the Maldives.

Chef Fathimath Umar, Secretary General of the Chefs Guild of Maldives will be representing this organization in the Maldivian delegation. Chef Fathimath Umar will be delivering a presentation of case studies of gastronomy tourism from the Maldives, and propose recommendations on branding and positioning a destination for gastronomy tourism.

Chef Fathimath Umar is the first female Maldivian chef to attain the position of Executive Chef. She was awarded the National Award of Recognition (People Development in Culinary Arts) by the Government of Maldives this year. Additionally, she is a recipient of “Education Chef” award at the 1st CGM Chef Awards in 2022.

The 23rd Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group is expected to finalize a set of concrete policy recommendations on developing and branding gastronomy tourism, which will be submitted to the upcoming 40th COMCEC Ministerial Session.

The Chefs Guild of Maldives (CGM) is the first non-profit-making association for chefs working in the Maldives ever established in the Maldives. The association is dedicated solely to the advancement of the culinary art in the Maldives. The CGM was registered on 02nd October 2014, and within less than a year, the CGM received its charter into World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS). World Association of Chefs Society endorses the CGM as the authorized Maldivian national culinary association. The CGM, thereby, has an international culinary focus and multi-national support for staging its various competitions, seminars and events.