03 Feb 2019

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) has been hailed as an exceptional model of South-South cooperation which is invaluable in imparting knowledge and skills.

Speaking at India House in Gaborone on the occasion of ITEC Day and a farewell ceremony for some Batswana who would be leaving for India, Speaker of the National Assembly Ms Gladys Kokorwe said ITEC was a model that could be emulated by all countries in the interest of advancing the South-South cooperation agenda.

ITEC, which offered scholarships for a variety of capacity building programmes, had firmly established India as one of the leading provider of technical know-how and expertise to partner countries in the developing world, said Ms Kokorwe. 

She said it was pleasing that there had been a progressive increase of slots allocated to Botswana, from an average of 65 annually in previous years to the current 140.

Ms Kokorwe said Botswana views ITEC programmes as complementary to its human resource development strategies which were critical for driving sustainable socio-economic development.

She expressed the hope that the bonds of friendship created through the partnership would continue to nurture the enduring bilateral ties between the two countries, adding that Batswana who underwent training in India would benefit from exchanges which promoted a deeper understanding of the history and essence of the two nations’ relations.

Ms Kokorwe further expressed hope that the training cooperation between the two countries would continue to flourish.

She said the spirit of benevolence that the Indian government continued to demonstrate towards Botswana was highly treasured.

For his part, the Indian high commissioner to Botswana, Dr Rajesh Ranjan said the ITEC programme had extended the linkages between the two countries beyond the historical and cultural ties to closer technical and economic cooperation. Dr Ranjan said the development partnership between the two countries was guided by Botswana’s priorities and since one of the most important aspects of the cooperation was people to people contact, training focused on enhancement of the local capacity and opportunities.

The courses offered range from Public Administration, Banking, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Women Empowerment and ICT among others. 

He said partnering with fellow developing countries such as Botswana was a pillar of India’s foreign policy. India, he said, shared technologies, academic knowledge and experiences to assist Botswana in its national development. ends