High Commission of India celebrates ITEC Day

Accra, Dec. 13, GNA - Ghana was awarded 70 out of a total of 800 training slots earmarked for Africa in 2006 year under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, Mr Rajesh Nandan Prasad, High Commissioner of India, said last night in Accra. =93Ghana is expected to utilise all the slots allotted to her to enhance its human resource capacity,=94 he said at a reception to mark ITEC Day.

He said the programme had so far offered technical assistance worth over two million dollars to more than 26,000 foreign nominees of 156 developing countries in Africa, Asia, East Europe and Latin America since 1964.

The Day, which is celebrated each year provides a platform to all alumni of Indian institutions to come together and share their experiences and provide feedback to assist in reviewing the scheme to make it more useful and relevant to the needs of future participants. Mr Prasad said India possessed skills of manpower and technology which it was happy to share with other developing countries in the spirit of South-South Cooperation and solidarity. He said ITEC and its corollary Special Assistance for African Countries Programme (SCAAP) were the flag-bearers of Indian Government's technical cooperation effort, not only because of its geographical coverage, but also for the innovative forms of technical cooperation it offered.

He said a total of 1,350 training slots are allotted each year for various courses including ICT; development journalism; manpower development; banking and parliamentary internship. India also assists Ghana in health, education, solar power electrification, agriculture and military training. Mr Prasad said the strong historical underpinning of India's relationship had strengthened its bilateral ties with Ghana and mentioned the 93Focus Africa Policy=94 TEAM-9 and ITEC as a unifying bond between the two countries.

Mr William Ofori Boafo, Deputy Minister of Defence, thanked the Indian Government for its immense contribution towards Ghana's human resource development as well as its support in almost all the sectors of the economy as well as the Ghana Armed Forces.

He said both countries had been supportive of each other for some time now, condemned terrorism in all forms and joined the Coalition against International Terrorism.

Mr Boafo mentioned India's support in the construction of the new Presidential Palace and the numerous ITEC programmes which were aimed at addressing the needs of the country.

He said India's assistance in rural electrification programme had opened up these areas for technological advancement and led to job creation as a form of a solution to rural-urban migration. Mr Boafo said about 750 Ghanaians had so far benefited from the ITEC and SCAAP programme and entreated all alumni of ITEC to endeavour to share their exposure with others through the organisation of training courses.