Namrata Kath Hazarika | 27 Mar, 2009
Small scale industries (SSIs) will be given priority in Africa for skill development. This was pointed out by Ashok Tomar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs recently.

Tomar said that his ministry is planning to set up ten vocational training centers and several technology demonstration centers in Africa in the next couple of years to boost skill development in African countries.

He said, "Under the India-Africa Forum Summit held in April 2008 it has been mentioned earlier about this move. However, the small scale industries and agriculture industry are as a center piece of our programming."

"I have already discussed with the African Union on this aspect. Also, we will be setting up centers distributing to five regions of Africa. There are some sectors that are already into operations," he said.

He also mentioned that National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and Ministry of MSME played major role in the collaborations between the two nations.

He further said, "For skill development, training will be imparted on specific sectors such as small manufacturing, agro-processing, agriculture, repairs, information Technology, etc."

"Training will be properly managed and done by Indian trainers. We will also be training the trainers from Africa so that later on they can take over. The African partners understand the value that is provided by Indian trainers and they want to continue to do so," Tomar added.

He further informed that the Ministry of External affairs is going to set up a portal which will connect the Indian-African nations not only in Commerce & Economy but also in cultural activities.

"We hope that through this new portal there will be greater communication across both the nations," he added.

He further told SME Times that India-Africa has large component of their collaboration programs catering to the small scale industries.

"The technology development centers and small scale development centers are in existence in Africa. I think it depends on how quickly both sides can move forward for imparting skill development in both the nations," he added.