• Over 3,000 Ethiopian nationals received scholarship in India
BY STAFF REPORTER
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia and India have a strong development partnership based on mutual understanding and respect, and sense of genuine partnership drawing on the principle of South-South cooperation, which comprises of capacity-building programmes at various institutes in India; as to Ambassador of India to Ethiopia, Robert Shetkintong.
The Ambassador stated the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was initially instituted on 15 September 1964 as a bilateral programme of assistance of the Government of India. The ITEC programme was designed to establish strong relations of mutual concern and inter-dependence based not only on commonly held ideals and aspirations, but also on solid economic foundations, he added.
Ambassador Robert Shetkintong also said that the ITEC Programme, fully funded by the Government of India, has evolved and grown over the years. Under ITEC, 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.
“Since the ITEC programme was started in Ethiopia in 1969, its slots have increased over the years reaching 400 in 2019 and 406 in 2020; where Ethiopian specialists and experts attended ITEC training facilities sponsored by the Government of India,” the Ambassador told The .
As to the Ambassador, Ethiopia is currently one of the largest beneficiaries of training programmes such as management skills, human resources planning, IT, entrepreneurship development, managing water resources, fluid dynamics, energy, and English Language among others.
“Ethiopia has received grant assistances over the years; some of these are the donation of 64-slice CT scan machine to black Lion Hospital, 1,000 MT of rice in 2018, medicines worth of USD two million in 2019, school books and COVID-19 protection toolkits.”
On the other hand, Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of long term concessional credit from India in Africa; the Ambassador said adding that the ongoing Government of India (GoI) assistance in developmental projects in Ethiopia has continued with sanctioned Lines of Credit (LoC) worth more than USD one billion to Ethiopia for sectors such as rural electrification, sugar industry and railways.
As to him, out of the three Sugar factory projects being undertaken through LoC funding of USD 640 million Fincha Sugar Factory has already been completed and handed over to the Ethiopian government. The other two, Wonji Shoa and Tendaho Phase-I have commenced production and would be handed over to Ethiopia after the completion of some balance works, he added.
The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day was celebrated in Addis Ababa, in the presence of Indian ITEC Alumni on 30 Dec 2021. Of these, Berhanemeskel Tena (PhD), President of Kotebe University of Education, Terefe Getachew (PhD), Dean, College of Natural & Social Science at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University addressed the event. And other speakers who are currently working for the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and the Ethiopian Press Agency shared their experiences of India.
The January 2/2022
