The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, which is aimed at promoting South-South cooperation, came into effect on 15 September 1964. Over the years, it has served to infuse Indian technology and skills and has enhanced capacity building in a number of developing economies, thus helping them in their march towards economic and technical self-sufficiency. In the process, the ITEC programme has earned tremendous goodwill for India’s civilisational ethos, which sees the entire world as one family, and lays great emphasis on sharing of assets, skills and capacities.

The ITEC programme operates mainly through four channels, namely:

Mauritius occupies a pride of place among more than 144 beneficiary countries of ITEC. Over the past years, ITEC programmes have contributed towards strengthening the economy and administration of Mauritius in many ways, such as by providing consultancy services for large infrastructural projects like the Southeastern Highway project, by training of personnel in critical fields, and through deputation of experts in high technology areas. This positive trend is expected to maintain itself and strengthen further over the coming years, thus helping Mauritius in its march towards economic and technical self-sufficiency.

Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, 120 civilian and 66 defence slots were offered to Mauritius in the FY 2011-12. In addition, slots are allocated for various defence related training programmes in defence institutions in India. A bilateral agreement also provides for deputation of up to 20 ITEC experts to the Government of Mauritius, at any given point of time.

The Civilian ITEC training courses are popular among Mauritian public servants. In recent years, an overwhelming proportion of such slots have been used for training in IT related fields, particularly after the agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Mauritius for setting up a ‘Strategic Partnership’ in the field of Information Technology.

The Defence training courses offered to personnel of the Mauritius Police Force (which includes the Special Mobile Force, the National Coast Guard and the Police Helicopter Squadron of Mauritius) in various Indian defence training institutions are also very popular. These courses, which are offered under Category II of the ITEC programme, cover both short-term and long-term modules.

An important part of the ITEC programme entails the deputation of ‘ITEC Experts’ from various departments of the Government of India to relevant Ministries in the Government of Mauritius. The deputed experts cover areas of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Fisheries, Audit Techniques and Civil Service Training. During their tenure with the Government of Mauritius, the ITEC experts continue to be on the payroll of Government of India.

For more details, please contact:

Attache (ITEC)
High Commission of India
Port Louis
Tel: 210 7505
Fax: 208 6859
E-mail: hciadm@intnet.mu