Guyana joined the Indian High Commission to celebrate Indian Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day 2019, as Guyanese continue to benefit from training provided by the Indian Government.
In observance of the event, a luncheon was held at the Marriott Hotel, which saw several ITEC alumni in attendance.
Speaking at the event, special guest, Auditor General Deodat Sharma, posited that his office is only one of the local agencies that has reaped the benefits of this innovative form of technical cooperation.
He revealed that for the past 20 years some 71 of its employees received training under the ITEC programme in various auditing disciplines, with nine staff recently trained over the past two years.
A section of the gathering at the ITEC Day 2019 at the Marriott Hotel, Georgetown
These staff, Sharma noted, were trained in areas considered to be new and emergent, such as Auditing in an Information Technology Environment, Auditing of Divestment Issues, Performance and Environmental Auditing, Auditing of the Energy Sector and Auditing of e-Governance, among other financial, compliance and regularity audits
“Not only have my staff been able to have training in methodology and execution of these audits but these sessions were interactive and all these training were supplemented with field trips to actually experience the full impact of the projects or areas being audited. This in and out of the classroom sessions coupled with the use of auditing software has helped the Audit Office of Guyana to stay ahead and be comparable with its developed sister Caricom countries,” the Auditor General posited.
Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner, Venkatachalam Mahalingam, noted that the ITEC alumni have been successful over the years in producing Government Ministers, Diplomats, successful academics, senior Government officials and leading entrepreneurs among others.
Indian High Commissioner, Venkatachalam Mahalingam
“For us, Guyana is one of the most important partners in our development assistance and capacity building. Our development cooperation with Guyana is purely on the basis of its priorities and needs. We may proudly state that more than 525 Guyanese have been trained under ITEC scheme and another 100 from Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Caricom Secretariat and the British Administered Territory – Anguilla which falls under the jurisdiction of the High Commission seated in Georgetown,” the Indian Diplomat stated.
Mahalingam went on to note that the programmes offered by India have since expanded from ITEC over the years. He outlined that ITEC activities globally have been associated with regional and multilateral organisations and cooperation groupings like African Union, Afro-Asian Rural Development Organisation, Pan African Parliament, Caricom, World Trade Organisation, Association of South East Asian Nations etc.
Under ITEC and its sister programme SCAAP (Special Commonwealth African Assistance Programme), the Indian High Commissioner noted some 162 countries in Asia, Africa, East Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean as well as Pacific and Small Island countries have been invited to share in the Indian developmental experience acquired over six decades of India’s experience as a free nation.
During Tuesday’s event, ITEC alumni, Sherry Kissoon – an auditor of the Caricom Secretariat and engineer Lyndon Younge of the Linden Chambers of Commerce, both shared their experiences, telling the intimate gathering that not only were able to use the lessons learned in the execution of their respective duties but they also got the opportunity to partake in the Indian culture.
General Manager of the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) of the Telecommunications Ministry, Francis Simmons, said that India’s efforts to build capacity in Guyana will not go unnoticed. He noted that these training will go a long way in aiding Guyana as it continues its quest to complete e-governance.
ITEC, a flagship programme of the Indian Government, was first established 54 years ago and now has some 142 partner countries which benefit from full-sponsored programmes in the areas of Banking, Audit and Accounts, Information and Communication Technology, Hydrology, Management, Environment and Renewal Energy and Journalism among others.
