Indian mission in Kazakhstan celebrates ITEC Day

ASTANA - The Embassy of India in Kazakhstan celebrated the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day with great enthusiasm last month.

India embarked on collaborating with Kazakhstan under this programme immediately after Kazakhstan’s independence in December 1991.

Since then, over 700 civilian professionals and 120 defence officers from Kazakhstan have so far participated and benefited from this programme.

In 2009, more than 100 professionals including officials from Government and private sector, academia and business attended the programme.

The embassy also organized a special study-cum-training programme in Public Administration for 25 elected members and senior executives of the Administration in the East Kazakhstan region at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.

Courses under the Programme cover several specialized subjects as well as courses in IT, Telecommunication, Parliamentary Studies, Advanced Accounting and Finance, Mass Communication, English Language Courses, Rural Development, Remote Sensing, Bank Management, Nuclear Energy, Web Designing, Educational Planning and Administration, Entrepreneurship Development, Tool Designing, and several others.

The celebration of ITEC Day was attended by several ITEC alumnae, who are currently working in different ministries and government organizations as well as representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Economic Development and Trade, Labour and Social Welfare, Defence, Finance, Communications and Information, New Technologies and Industry and from different business organizations, Banks, cultural institutions, journalists, media personnel, and universities.

Speaking on the occasion, India’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan Ashok Sajjanhar said that interest and enthusiasm of the participants in this programme has seen a significant growth over the last few years.

He said that several ITEC alumnae are currently occupying important places in the Government, Parliament, Supreme Court and the private sector.

Ambassador Sajjanhar stated that human resources are the greatest asset of any nation. Development of these resources by upgrading skills through training is the best way to achieve optimal development of the country. India has accumulated tremendous developmental experience and expertise since independence and is happy to share this with friendly countries like Kazakhstan, he added.

Sajjanhar noted that the most pressing task in front of the Kazakh Government is to develop its human resources and upgrade their professional skills so that people can effectively and actively contribute to the progress and growth of the Kazakh economy.

He added that India is ideally suited to meet such a requirement. India’s educational system is world renowned with some of the best institutions in the areas of science and technology, including information technology, bio-technology, nano technology, space etc.

He emphasized that in addition to meeting the deeply felt need of the Kazakh economy, the ITEC Programme also helps to bridge the “information divide” between the two countries and to expose the young professionals of Kazakhstan to the history, culture and ancient civilisational ethos of India. Such communications strengthen the fundamentals and foundations of a close relationship and partnership between the two countries.

He noted that both India and Kazakhstan are poised at the threshold of a rapid expansion and strengthening of their relations in all spheres including political, strategic, economic, commercial, cultural and educational areas. Both India and Kazakhstan are factors of peace, stability and growth, not only in the region but in the world. Initiatives like the ITEC Programme, he observed, serve as extremely effective instruments in strengthening and diversifying the multi-faceted relations between the two countries.

Ambassador Doulat Kuanyshev from the Kazakh Foreign Office spoke warmly and effusively of the important role being played by the Indian Embassy in strengthening cooperation and relations between India and Kazakhstan. He expressed confidence that relations between the two countries will continue to grow and strengthen in the coming years. (ANI)