Training scholarships in various industries offered to Sri Lanka have been enthusiastically received by Sri Lankans-and fully utilised, said India on 28 March, while also increasing such training opportunities given to Sri Lanka.
โWe have seen enthusiastic participation from Sri Lanka with almost full utilization of the allocated Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation program slotsโ said HE High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu on 28 March in Colombo.
HE High Commissioner Singh was addressing the Indian High Commissionโs Joint Celebration of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program and International Studentsโ Day at Ballroom of Taj Samudra, Colombo on 28 March. Joining HE High Commissioner Singh was Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen as the Chief Guest of the event and the Deputy High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Arindam Bagchi.
โI thank Minister Rishad Bathiudeen for all the support he has given to sustain Indo-Sri Lanka relations. India always believed skills are the real strength. ITEC, started in 1964, has been an important component in Indiaโs development partnershipsโ said HE High Commissioner Singh, and added: โImportance of acquiring right skill-sets have gone up in todayโs knowledge based societies. ITEC offers technical training, consultancies overseas, feasibility studies etc. Almost 280 course are conducted annually and they are offered to more than 160 countries all over the globe. Certain programs are response oriented. Sri Lanka is one of the most important ITEC partner countries. We have seen enthusiastic participation from Sri Lanka with almost full utilization of the allocated ITEC slots. We increased ITEC slots allocated to Sri Lanka from 225 to 370, starting 2016. ITEC is not just about human resource development or capacity building and more than bilateral techno economic partnership-It looks at preparing ourselves to face the world together.โ
Minister Bathiudeen, addressing the event thanked India for its support to Sri Lanka. โITEC is only a part of support and cooperation extended to Sri Lanka by people of India over the years, and I thank the people of India for all such continued supportโ said Minister Bathiudeen and added: โSri Lanka is on a development journey towards higher-middle income ranks, as per the vision of the unity government. In this background we place great importance to human resource and skills development.โ
Indiaโs ITEC programme is historic, starting way back in 1964. Under ITEC India assists young professionals from 160 countries including Sri Lanka to enter into 280 study courses in many top Indian institutions. ITEC also offers a menu of short term courses such industries as info-tech, banking, and even remote sensing.
Sri Lanka is one of the most important partner countries for the ITEC and Colombo Plan Scholarship Program. Since ITEC began in 1964, more than 1000 Sri Lankans โmostly young professionals-attended various study courses (on scholarships) and returned.
Leader of All Ceylon Makkal Congress