Press Releases

Welcome remarks by Charge d Affairs at the ITEC Day reception (Bishkek; 23rd November, 2024; 6.30 pm)*

Your Excellency Mr. Rasul Abazbek uulu, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic,

Colonel Adyl Isaev, Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Armed Forces of the Ministry of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic and distinguished dignitaries from the Ministry of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic,

Ms.Lira Sabyrova, Deputy Director and Ms. Saikal Amanbekova, Attache from the Ministry of Foreign affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic,

My dear ITEC Alumni,

Friends from the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening,

It gives me great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all of you to the celebration of the ITEC Day.

2. ITEC is an Indian technical and economic cooperation program that has existed since 1964. ITEC today covers 160 countries and has contributed to the capacity enhancement of more than 200,000 professionals since its inception. This is also a leading programme in the capacity building initiatives of the South-South Cooperation.

3. Under this program, citizens of partner countries, including Kyrgyzstan, can travel to India to study courses at one of the leading universities of their choice. For participants, it is completely free, since all expenses are covered by the Government of India:

4. Kyrgyzstan has been a participant in the program for several decades. During this time, more than 1,500 specialists from the Kyrgyz Republic have been trained in India. The specialties are very diverse: banking, entrepreneurship, English, journalism, audit, IT, yoga courses. The ITEC program has been expanded to include new areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, forensics and cybersecurity. The program is updated annually.

5. The duration of the courses varies: from several days to six months, depending on the chosen course. It is recommended to submit an application at least 3 months before the start of classes. If you delay, the course may run out of places.
There is an Official website of the ITEC program: itecgoi.in. After registering on the website, the program curator will contact you and invite you to an interview and English language test.

6. In addition to the physical/in-person training, ITEC content for civilians is also delivered through three other broad channels.

A) First one is the e-ITEC channel provides online, real-time training delivered by Indian Institutes to professionals located in partner countries.

B) Second one is the ITEC Onsite channel provides customized content to our partner countries by shifting the training to the country itself by deputing training professionals for short duration. The content for these programmes focuses on the requirements of our partner countries in sector-specific training. For example, if the Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic has the requirement for some speacial training course for teachers or Ministry staff, we can organize a specialsed course especially for them.

C) And the third one is the ITEC Executive is the third channel, which is an exclusive programme for senior level functionaries and policy makers in our partner countries; this channel delivers content through the medium of conferences, workshops and study visits which provide an understanding of practices and systems in India.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

7. The intense ITEC partnership between India and the Kyrgyz Republic has been continuing for more than thirty years with focus being given to institutionalized capacity building of civil servants and defence personnel. We are extremely encouraged by the enthusiastic response that we have received from the participants in these ITEC courses.

8. Government of India is now offering 100 ITEC slots to the Kyrgyz Republic every year. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the ITEC alumni here is more than 1,500 and the number continues to grow.

9. More than 100 officers from the Kyrgyz Republic have attended various military courses in India under the Defence ITEC programmes in the last two decades. The canvas of the courses reflects focused academic and physical training for Young Officers, shaping the middle rung officers for both staff and command assignments and preparing the senior level officers for the appointments in the higher defence echelons of the Kyrgyz Republic.

10. In addition, country specific special courses are also conducted from time to time based on requests received from other governments. These courses are for specific capacity building requirements. We were happy to organise a special course conducted by India Institute of Public Administration for 18 ITEC alumni from Kyrgyzstan last year in January.

Friends,

11. We are extremely happy that several ITEC alumni have been able to join us today evening. The ITEC Day gives us an opportunity to re-connect with all of you. We are looking forward to hearing from some of you about your experiences of attending ITEC training programmes in India. It is significant that over the years, the ITEC alumni in the Kyrgyz Republic has become a powerful catalyst in forging stronger ties between our two countries. We wish you every success in your career and in all your future endeavours.

Thank you all for joining us today.