India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)

   Information on ITEC

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme popularly known as "ITEC" was launched in 1964 as a bilateral programme of assistance of the Government of India.

Under ITEC and its corollary SCAAP (Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme) 156 countries in Asia, East Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America are invited to share in the Indian Developmental experience acquired over five decades of India’s existence as a free Nation.

ITEC is about cooperation and partnership for mutual benefit. It is response oriented and it addresses the needs of developing countries.

India is not a rich country and cannot offer grants-in-aid to match those of the developed countries. It does, however, possess skills of manpower and technology more appropriate to the geographical and ecological conditions and the stage of technological development of several developing countries.

India spends about Rs.500 million annually on ITEC activities. Since 1964, India has provided over US $2 billion worth of technical assistance to developing countries, including neighboring countries (assistance to whom is administered separately).

ITEC is the flag bearer of the Indian Governments technical cooperation effort, not only because of its wide geographical coverage but also for innovative forms of technical cooperation in which it has assisted.

ITEC is essentially bilateral. There have been occasions, however, when ITEC resources were used for financing Trilateral and Regional Programmes under the Economic Commission for Africa, UNIDO and Group of 77. Today, AARRO,(Afro Asian Rural Reconstruction Organisation) and G-15 are being helped by ITEC with Training and project support and a small beginning has also been made with cooperation with the SADC(Southern African Development Community).

Indian Technical Economic Cooperation has five components viz (1) Training in India of nominees of ITEC partner countries; (2) Projects and project related activities such as feasibility studies and consultancy services; (3) Deputation of Indian experts abroad ; (4) Study Tours. (5) Aid for Disaster Relief (ADR).

1)  TRAINING

Ever since the inception of ITEC programme, training of thousands of nominees of ITEC Partner countries have been the most successful cooperation programme and is highly appreciated by the recipient countries. Training, both civilian and defence personnel, constitute about 40 percent of annual ITEC programme budget.

a)  Civilian Training

The training courses cover a wide variety of subjects such as Information Technology (IT); Parliamentary Studies; Accounts & Finance; Mass Communication; English Language Courses; Rural Development; Teachers’ training; Bank Management; Educational Planning & Administration; Entrepreneurship Development; Secretariat Training and Management; Standardization & Quality Assurance; Repair and Maintenance of Telecom Equipment and Computers; Fertilizer Quality control; Food Technology; Tool Design; Poultry Training; Manpower Research; Statistical Education; Non Conventional Energy Resources; IT in Law Enforcement; Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development; Water Resourses, etc etc.

Government of India bears the entire expenditure for ITEC/SCAAP trainings in India, which include airfare, tuition fees, living allowances, medical expenses, book grants and extra baggage allowance

b)  Military Training

India offers training in all the three wings of Defence Services to selected number of countries in some of the prestigious institutions like National Defence College, New Delhi and National Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in Tamil Nadu. The training covers a number of fields such as, Security and Strategic Studies, Defence Management, Artillery, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Marine and Aeronautical Engineering, Anti-Marine Warfare, Hydrography, Logistics and Management & Qualitative Assurance Services.

The training is covered under different programmes. Under ITEC-I Scheme, entire cost of air travel, tuition fees, living allowance, medical and study tours are borne by the Government of India. Under ITEC-II, only the cost of international travel is met by the beneficiary country and all other charges are borne by the Government of India. There is provision for training under the Self-Financing and Reciprocal Schemes also.

2)  PROJECTS AND PROJECT RELATED ACTIVITIES SUCH AS CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Project Assistance like training, accounts for 40 percent of the annual ITEC programme budget. Through these projects India assists developing countries to establish useful infrastructural facilities with technological means and skills appropriate to their resources and needs. Projects have been financed across Asia, Africa and Latin America and in recent years, in the central Asian Republics (CARs).

Through project assistance, India also demonstrates the skills, technologies and human resource capacities which she has acquired in the course of the her own development.

However the major focus of project assistance is agriculture. ITEC has provided Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali and Suriname with equipment and expertise for agricultural use, which has been generally well received.

Vocational training in small-scale industries and entrepreneurship development are important areas of cooperation with Senegal, Zimbabwe, Vietnam and Mongolia under ITEC. Such training enables young people to gain useful employment at comparatively low levels of capital intensity.

ITEC carries out feasibility studies and consultancy services on request. Results of these studies are handed over to the Governments concerned, free of charge to use in any manner they choose.

  Cooperation with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)

With ITEC support several Indian Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have established themselves and become well known in the developing countries especially in Africa. The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Hindustan Machine Tools International Limited HMT (I); Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited (WAPCOS), Rail India Technical & Economic Services (RITES) and Central Electronics Limited(CEL) benefited from initial association with ITEC and are now bidding for development projects in these countries on their own.

  Some examples of the activities under ITEC programme:

There is little that ITEC has not gladly done, nor any challenge which it has not gladly met. Few examples of such ITEC activities are as follows:

1. Building and manning of a hospital in Afghanistan,
2. Building schools in Maldives,
3. Restoration of Angkor Vat in Cambodia,
4. Assistance in augmenting milk production in Kyrghyzstan
5. Teaching unemployed youth in South Africa, useful trades such as making biscuits or binding books,
6. Sharing experience in dry-farming technique with Iraq,
7. Teaching Vietnamese students to converse in English,
8. Conducting a feasibility study for the establishment of an airline in Malaysia
9. Helping construct a bridge in Georgetown (Guyana)
10. Establishment of Vocational Training Centre for Small and Medium enterprises in Senegal etc etc

  ITEC projects recently undertaken by ITEC include:

1. Establishment of solar energy plants in Cuba and Costa Rica,
2. Computerisation of the office of the Prime Minister of Senegal;
3. Assistance in the transformation of the educational system of South Africa,
4. Establisment of Plastic technology demonstration center in Namibia,
5. Fitting of artificial limbs in Cambodia and Uzbekistan.
6. Vocational Training Centre for Construction Sector in Indonesia,
7. Establishment of Vocational Training Centre for Small and Medium enterprises in Zimbabwe,
8. Setting up of a 100 bed Specialty Hospital and an IT Center in Vientiane.

3)  Deputation of Indian Experts Abroad

Indian experts are deputed to countries on request to assist in developmental activities. They study the problems and suggest solutions without disturbing the local socioeconomic and cultural environment. Some of the fields covered by these experts are Creative Arts, Pest Management, Military Training, Information Technology, Audit, Animal Husbandry, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Radiology, Handloom Training, Sugarcane Industry, English Teaching, Diary Development, Foundry Engineering, Telecommunication, Agricultural Research, etc.

Indian experience in the field of small and medium scale industries, agriculture and financial management is particularly relevant to the developing countries. For many of them, ITEC provide a welcome and reliable complement in their difficult struggle for economic emancipation, social change and cultural rejuvenation

Both civilian and military expertise is provided on request. Whereas salaries and allowances of the experts and their international travel expenses are met by the Government of India, the partner countries are expected to provide accommodation, local transport, an office and reasonable medical facilities. If the local Governments are unable to provide these facilities, the Government of India takes them under its own charge. The spirit of South- South Cooperation is thus demonstrated in deeds and not merely in words. Demand for the services of Indian experts deputed to various countries is on the increase.

4)  STUDY TOURS

Study tours in India are undertaken at the specific requests of ITEC beneficiary countries. Delegations and their specific areas of interest are identified and two to three weeks programme are arranged during which the delegations are taken to important institutions, training centers etc in different parts of India.

5)  AID FOR DISASTER RELIEF (ADR):

India also provides aid for disaster relief. Under this programme, India supplied rice to Cambodia and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Woollen Blankets to Algeria, Chemicals to Indonesia and Medicines to Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, Surinam, Central American Countries, etc.

   ITEC and Bulgaria

Candidates from different fields from Bulgaria go to India under the ITEC scheme to take part in the different training modules as well as to attend projects in different parts of India. From the year 2006 onwards, the total number of slots for Bulgaria has been increased to 15 under the ITEC programme.

The number of participants who have attended various courses under the ITEC programme during the followings years are as:

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