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Speech by EAM at the
Special Plenary of 5th India-Africa Conclave
23/03/2009
Speech by Shri
Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of External Affairs
at the Special Plenary of the 5th India-Africa Conclave
Monday, 23 March, 2009
Your Excellencies, Honourable Ministers and dignitaries from Africa,
Ambassadors & High Commissioners,
Mr. Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd.,
Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of Confederation of Indian
Industry,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great privilege to be present amidst you today at this special
plenary session of the 5th CIl-EXIM Bank Conclave on the lndia-Africa
Project Partnership 2009. This event has become a most prestigious
gathering of government and business representatives from Africa and
India. It is a reflection of our common desire to share each other’s
capabilities and capacities for mutual benefit and for the
socio-economic development of our peoples.
I have been informed that this year’s Conclave has generated
overwhelming response with more than 450 participants registering from
Africa and nearly 315 from India. I congratulate the Confederation of
Indian Industry and EXIM Bank for this.
Such periodical gatherings not only give us an occasion to renew our
acquaintance, but also enable us to take stock of the progress made in
the implementation of our mutual commitments and to address our future
needs.
Friends, the theme of this
year’s Conclave is “India-Africa: Celebrating the Partnership”. The
India-Africa partnership has evolved over decades with mutual respect
for each other’s traditions, cultures and the desire to ensure that the
benefits of development are spread evenly and reach all our peoples,
particularly the most disadvantaged.
The long and historic relationship between India and Africa has now
evolved into a sustainable partnership. During our march together, we
have traversed similar paths, shared similar values and cherished the
same dreams.
Today, both India and Africa have emerged as strong and dependable
partners, who are well positioned to confront the growing challenges
facing humanity, be it combating the scourge of international terrorism,
eradicating hunger and poverty, tackling global warming, or evolving new
frameworks for international institutions.
Our time-tested and multifaceted relationship with Africa is based on
the solid foundation of our steadfast commitment for the rapid growth
and progress of Africa. The formalisation of an institutional mechanism
for the India-Africa dialogue in the form of the India-Africa Forum
Summit is a reflection of India’s commitment to work with the continent
to fulfil its aspirations.
International trade and market access are crucially important for
development. Recognising this, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
unilaterally announced India’s Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme (DFTP)
in April last year in New Delhi for 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
of which 33 are from the African continent including the Cotton-4
countries, i.e. Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad and Mali. This Scheme covers
94% of India’s total tariff lines. I would urge all LDCs in Africa to
fully utilize this scheme. We are happy to provide them greater market
access to India.
Since the inception of the
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme in 1964,
capacity building and human resource development in Africa has been an
area of high priority for the Government of India. The ITEC programme
has benefited thousands of experts and students from Africa who came for
training courses in professional institutions in India. These courses
cover diverse fields such as agriculture and agro processing,
entrepreneurship development, tool design, small business creation,
promotion of rural industries and information technology. Our “Barefoot
College” and the “Hole-in-the-Wall” programmes have received
enthusiastic response from several countries. This year the Ministry of
External Affairs has designed special courses for experts from Africa in
the field of mining and new and renewable energy resources. We have
increased the number of training slots for African countries from 1100
to 1600. I would like to urge all my friends from Africa to fully
utilize these training courses.
I am happy to note that several thousand African students are currently
studying in Indian universities and colleges. We have doubled the number
of scholarships for the African countries to 500 this year.
Over the next five to six years India will also undertake in Africa, on
a grant basis, projects in critical areas such as higher and vocational
education, science, IT, agriculture and renewable energy. A sum of
US$500 million has been allocated for this.
Government of India’s
Pan-African e-Network Project is another shining example of the
India-Africa partnership. Under this project, India has provided a
dedicated satellite link for e-connectivity to help bridge the digital
divide in Africa. The project aims at linking major universities in
different regions of Africa with major Indian universities and centres
of excellence on the one hand, as also major hospitals in Africa with
super-specialty hospitals in India, on the other. I had the privilege of
inaugurating the first phase of this project last month which covers
eleven countries. We hope to extend this to another 22 countries by the
middle of this year. I am confident that this project would be immensely
useful to our friends in their effort to disseminate higher education
and modern medicine.
It is a matter of satisfaction to note that our bilateral trade with
Africa has grown manifold and reached a level of US$36 billion in
2007-08, up from US$3 billion in 2000-01. Given the concrete
opportunities that exist between the two sides, India-Africa trade could
easily be doubled to US$70 billion over the next five years. I would
urge this Conclave to accept this challenge and plan out strategies to
achieve it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is important to supplement governmental efforts
with those from industry, civil society and private institutions in
order to widen and deepen the foundation of our growing partnership. I
am confident that such empowered gatherings comprising of entrepreneurs,
investors and business leaders would provide the necessary impetus to
promote B2B interactions and public-private partnerships between the two
sides.
I acknowledge, in this
context, the pioneering role played by India’s public and private sector
in promoting joint ventures and investments in Africa in core sectors,
particularly in the fields of agriculture, power generation, irrigation,
pharmaceuticals, IT and health.
Of late, there have been further investments or plans for investment by
both Indian public and private sector companies in the energy sector.
These plans entail capacity development and value addition in a broader
sense and are, therefore mutually beneficial and sustainable.
Ladies & Gentlemen, India is the world’s largest importer of rough
diamonds and exporter of cut and polished diamonds. Most of the raw
diamonds for our cutting and polishing industry are sourced from Africa.
As part of our philosophy of sharing our knowledge with others, and in
pursuance of our policy to increase capacity building in Africa, our
government has favourably considered the request of some African
countries to set up Diamond Cutting and Polishing Institutes for
training of their personnel in cutting/polishing skills.
The endeavours of the African Union towards regional economic
integration and for building Pan-African institutions are truly
commendable. We will continue our support for these efforts as well as
those to meet the Millennium Development Goals, especially in the areas
of human resource development and capacity building. We have an open
mind on looking at new and innovative ideas and sectors in this regard.
I would urge delegates here to give thought to this aspect.
Ladies and gentlemen, let
me conclude by saying that the current global financial crisis and
general economic downturn have impacted us all. However, it is our firm
intention to continue to fulfil the commitments we announced towards
Africa at the India-Africa Forum Summit last April.
Excellencies, in the post-colonial era, India and African countries have
been together since their birth as independent nations. Our destinies
and future remain closely intertwined. That is my message to you.
Thank you. |
