About ITECINDIAN TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION (ITEC) PROGRAMME
- The
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was
instituted by a decision of the Indian Cabinet on 15 September 1964 as a
bilateral programme of assistance of the Government of India. The decision regarding setting up the ITEC programme was
predicated on the underlying belief that "it was necessary to establish
relations of mutual concern and inter-dependence based not only on
commonly held ideals and aspirations, but also on solid economic
foundations. Technical and economic cooperation was considered to be one
of the essential functions of an integrated and imaginative foreign
policy."
- The ITEC Programme is essentially bilateral in nature.
However, in recent years, ITEC resources have also been used for
cooperation programmes conceived in regional and inter-regional context
such as Economic Commission for Africa,
Commonwealth Secretariat, UNIDO, Group of 77 and G-15. In more recent
years, its activities have also been associated with regional and
multilateral organizations and cooperation groupings like Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Bay of Bengal Initiative for
Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC),
Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), African Union (AU), Afro-Asian Rural
Development Organization (AARDO), Pan African Parliament, Caribbean
Community (CARICOM), World Trade Organization (WTO) and Indian Ocean Rim
- Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) and India-Africa Forum
Summit.
- The ITEC Programme,
fully funded by the Government of India, has evolved and grown over the
years. Under ITEC and its sister programme SCAAP (Special Commonwealth
African Assistance Programme), 161 countries in Asia, Africa, East
Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean as well as Pacific and Small Island
countries are invited to share in the Indian developmental experience
acquired over six decades of India's existence as a free nation. As a
result of different activities under this programme, there is now a
visible and growing awareness among other countries about the competence
of India as a provider of technical know-how and expertise as well as
training opportunities, consultancy services and feasibility studies.
These programmes have generated immense goodwill and substantive
cooperation among the developing countries.
The ITEC/SCAAP Programme has the following components :- Training (civilian and defence) in India of nominees from ITEC partner countries;
- Projects and project related activities such as feasibility studies and consultancy services;
- Deputation of Indian experts abroad;
- Study Tours;
- Gifts/Donations of equipment at the request of ITEC partner countries; and
- Aid for Disaster Relief .
Training- Training
or capacity building is one of the major activities under ITEC. The
professionals and people from developing countries are offered unique
training courses, both civilian and defence, in different centres of
excellence in India which empower them with not just professional
skills, but prepare them for an increasingly globalized world.
Line of Credits(LoCs)
- Another key elements of India’s development assistance in recent years has been the extension of Lines of Credit (LoC) on concessional terms to
least developed countries and developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation,
LOCs enable borrowing countries to import goods and services from India and to undertake projects for infrastructure
development and capacity building, in accordance with their developmental priorities.
Project-related Cooperation
- India
assists ITEC partner countries, on the basis of mutually agreed
projects, to establish useful infrastructure facilities with technology
and skills appropriate to their resources and needs. Through project
assistance, India also demonstrates the skills, technologies and human
resource capabilities, which it has acquired in the course of its own
development. A number of bilateral projects are undertaken, notably in
the fields of archaeological conservation, Information Technology, (IT)
and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
- Feasibility
studies and consultancy services, at the request of ITEC partner
countries, are also carried out under the Programme. Results of these
studies are handed over to the Governments concerned to use in a manner
deemed appropriate by them.
Deputation of Indian Experts- Indian
experts are deputed to friendly countries on their request to assist in
developmental activities. The experts study the problems and suggest
solutions without disturbing the local socio-economic and cultural
environment. Some of the fields covered in recent years have been
creative arts, pest management, military training, IT, audit, medicine,
English teaching, telecommunications, agricultural research, etc. Indian
experiences and expertise in the fields of small and medium scale
industries, agriculture and financial management have been found to be
particularly relevant to the developing countries.
Study Tours- Study
tours in India are undertaken at the specific request of ITEC partner
countries. Specific areas of interest are identified and two to three
weeks programme is arranged during which the delegates are taken to
important institutions, training centres, and places of interest in
different parts of India.
Gifts/Donations of Equipment- The
Government of India provides gifts / donations of equipment to ITEC
partner countries to assist in their developmental efforts. These gifts/
donations are usually in response to requests of these friendly
countries and the commitments made by the political leadership.
Aid for Disaster Relief- Under
this Programme, India supplies humanitarian aid like food grains,
medicines and similar other items to countries struck by natural
disasters. Cash assistance is also provided.
- Since its inception
in 1964, India has trained thousands of trainees in ITEC/SCAAP partner
countries. To commemorate the Programme, September 15 has been
designated as ITEC Day. Indian Missions in ITEC/SCAAP partner countries
generally host a reception to celebrate the event during the course of
the year as convenient. All ITEC/SCAAP alumni are invited along with
Ministers and other high dignitaries of that country dealing with the
ITEC programme. The alumni share their experiences about the training
programme as well as their stay in India, which also serves as a meeting
point for ITEC participants in building alumni networks and providing
feedback. In many countries, ITEC alumni have formed ITEC friendship
societies. ITEC alumni are also interacting through social networking
site Face Book (www.facebook.com/ITECnetwork
). - Being a founder member of Colombo Plan, India is extending technical cooperation and assistance to Colombo Plan countries since 1950, under Technical Cooperation Scheme of Colombo Plan.
Through this Scheme,
India provides comprehensive and integrated training to participants
from Asian member countries of Colombo Plan with the purpose of
assisting them to enhance their administrative and technical
capabilities through human resource development. The Ministry of
External Affairs has been entrusted with the administration of the TCS
of Colombo Plan since April 2010. Under this Scheme, India offers 500
scholarships for training in India in premier centres of learning covering diverse
disciplines keeping in mind the needs of our Colombo Plan countries.
- ITEC
is the flagship programme of the Indian Government's capacity building
effort, not only because of its magnitude and wide geographical coverage
but also for innovative forms of technical cooperation. DPA-II Division
of Development Partnership Administration (DPA) in the Ministry of
External Affairs is the nodal division for handling all capacity
building programmes. The ITEC programme, along with SCAAP and TCS of
Colombo Plan, is a visible symbol of India's role and contribution to
South-South cooperation. South-South Cooperation is a partnership born
out of a shared sense of solidarity and is entirely voluntary and free
of conditionalities. It furthers national development priorities of our
partners and has national ownership at its centre. India remains a
staunch proponent and practitioner of South-South Cooperation which
constitutes a fundamental pillar of India's foreign policy and
diplomacy.
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