AFRICA-INDIA 2LST

He said the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation
(ITEC) Programme benefits thousands of experts and students
from Africa who come to pursue various professional courses.

"We have increased the number of training slots for
African countries from 1100 to 1600. We have also doubled the
number of scholarships for the African countries to 500," he
said.
Tharoor said that 500 million dollars had been granted
for projects in areas such as higher education, science, IT,
agriculture and renewable energy over the next five years.
The Minister described 'The Pan African E-network
project' as "one of the most far-reaching initiatives
undertaken by India".
"Already 42 countries have joined this programme which is
intended to provide E-services with priority on tele-education
and tele-medicine services and VVIP connectivity by satellite
and fibre optic network amongst the heads of state of all 53
countries."
Tharoor emphasised the growing engagement of Indian
companies through investment over 36 billion dollars last year
in industry, agriculture, services, human resource development
and infrastructure.
"We look forward to working with our African partners to
take these trade and investment levels to newer heights," he
added. PTI BS
PMR


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