H.E Jeeva Sagar – Indian High Commissioner
The Indian High Commission in Ghana on February 28, 2014, celebrated the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) day in a colorful reception held at the Indian House in Accra. The event brought together a host of high profile dignitaries within and around the Ghanaian diplomatic circles.
In his opening address, H.E Jeeva Sagar, the Indian High Commissioner said the ITEC day is marked by India to celebrate India’s success in technical and economic advancement over the years. According to him, the ITEC initiative also provides India the opportunity to share its development expertise and technology with other developing countries.
The High Commissioner was of the view that, the Indian Government remained very committed to the ITEC initiative since it is helping to solve the needs of partner countries like Ghana.
“India enjoys sharing its development experiences and we are proud to be contributing to the capacity building of Ghana whose relations with India dates back from the pre-independence era” he said.
Since its inception in 1964, many participants from Ghana have benefitted from technical training in various sectors through ITEC and the Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP).
These participants also referred to as the Alumni of ITEC, offered a plethora of courses spanning from I.T, Management, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), Media and Development Studies, Engineering among others.
The Deputy High Commissioner of India, H.E Ajaneesh Kumar noted the consistent progress of the ITEC initiative over the years and lauded Ghana’s keen interest and participation in the programmes.
He disclosed that the number of Ghanaian participants selected for this years ITEC programme has been increased from 150 to 200 because of the immense interest shown by the country in the initiative, adding that this would also help to further improve bi-lateral relations between both countries.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Julius Debrah, who represented the government of Ghana, thanked India for instituting the ITEC initiative to enhance and upgrade the technical capabilities of Ghanaians and other developing countries.
He was also thankful to the Indian government for increasing the number of Ghanaian participants for this year’s ITEC programme.
Hon. Debrah however appealed for the introduction of more SME and agricultural development courses which were in line with the President of Ghana’s vision of creating jobs through SMEs in order to reduce unemployment and also to enhance Ghana’s agricultural capabilities.
Also present at the ITEC day reception were the various participants of ITEC who took turns to share their experiences in India with the audience.
Edith Agyei, an Assistant Clerk in Parliament and a participant of last year’s ITEC programme said “I was part of the 29th Parliamentary Internship Programme where I learnt extensively on the procedures of parliament, the judiciary and the executive and I was particularly impressed with the follow-up system of the Assurance Committee in India and I hope that we (Ghana) can adopt a similar system in order to make the Assurance Committee more effective in discharging its duties.”
The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) is a bilateral, regional and multilateral initiative which extends technical training in various sectors to over 150 countries within Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The initiative is entirely funded by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India.
By Prince Asare, Diplomatic Call
