About Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme popularly known as "ITEC" was launched in 1954 as a bilateral programme of assistance by Government of India.
Under ITEC and its corollary SCAAP (Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme) 161 countries in Asia, East Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America are invited to share the Indian developmental experience acquired over six decades of India's existence as a free Nation.
ITEC is about cooperation and partnership for mutual benefit. It is response oriented and it addresses the needs of developing countries.
India spends about Rs. 500 million annually on ITEC activities. Since 1964 India has provided over US $2 billion worth of technical assistance to developing countries, including neighboring countries (assistance to whom is administered separately).
ITEC is the flag bearer of the Indian Government's technical cooperation efforts, not only because of its wide geographical coverage but also for innovative forms of technical cooperation in which it has assisted.
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation has five components viz
1. Training in India of nominees of ITEC partner countries;
2. Projects and project related activities such as feasibility studies and consultancy services;
3. Deputation of Indian experts abroad;
4. Study Tours;
5. Aid for Disaster Relief (ADR).
About Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI)
EDI an Acknowledged National Resource Institute Engaged in Entrepreneurship Education, Research & Training, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), is an autonomous body and not-for-profit institution, set up in 1983, is sponsored by apex financial institutions, namely the IDBI Bank Ltd, IFCI Ltd. ICICI Ltd and State Bank of India (SBI).
Under the banner of Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation (ITEC), supported by the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt, of India, EDI conducts 13 training programmes in a year and train about 520 officials from different countries.
A project called Institutionalising Entrepreneurship Development in CLMV Countries was launched in Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Lao PDR with the support of Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India (2005-07). The main objective of this project was institutionalizing entrepreneurship development activities in partner countries as part of India’s support to initiatives for ASEAN Integration. The project has successfully established Entrepreneurship Development Cells (EDCs) in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam for taking up various activities related to ED along with essential manpower development.
EDI has conducted Delegation Visit and Buyer-Seller Meet in Turkey (2010), Italy (2010), China (2000), Taiwan (2002) with the facilitation support of local Indian Embassies.
Recognition from UN-ESCAP, Bangkok:
The EDI has been selected as a member of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) network of Centres of Excellence for HRD Research and Training. EDI as a member of the Network will have interactive access to information on other 123 member institutions via Internet. The database on the Network is included in the ESCAP HRD Homepage (www.escap-hrd.org) on the Internet. EDI will also be invited to collaborate with ESCAP in the development and delivery of a series of ESCAP HRD courses to train social development personnel working to alleviate poverty in the region. Further, EDI as a member will also be invited to nominate their personnel to participate in a series of ESCAP HRD courses for poverty alleviation, starting in 1998.
It has undertaken various development projects/programmes supported by SIDBI, NABARD, KVIC, DC (Handicrafts), DC (Handloom), DC (MSME), Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Government of Gujarat, Government of Kerala, other state Governments, UNIDO, ILO, European Union, Commonwealth Secretariat etc.
Under ENTRIXIE (Entrepreneurship Training and Information Exchange for Small Business in India and Europe) Project supported by the European Union SME linkages were established among partner countries namely India, U.K., Germany, Austria.
The SME Knowledge Base Activity (supported by Commonwealth Secretariat, U.K. and National Small Industries Corporation, New Delhi) benefited Business Development Service Providers, Policy Makers, Regulatory Bodies, Entrepreneurs, Academicians, ED Specialists, NGOs.
The Inter Regional Centre (IRC) for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training set up at the Institute with the support of UNIDO, Vienna and Govt. of India aimed at developing and strengthening indigenous capacities of selected countries in Asia, Africa and Arab regions for investment promotion and entrepreneurship development. IRC for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training were established by EDI in Lao PDR, Mozambique, Sudan and Yemen.
With the support of the European Union, EDI launched a comprehensive earthquake rehabilitation project in Gujarat called ‘EDI-EU Project for Economic Regeneration of Kachchh & Saurashtra’ (EDI-EU PERKS), India immediately after 2001 earthquake.
EDI has trained 21 Officers working in the Agriculture Bank at Saana in Yemen on SME Financing.
EDI has also
; Developed National Policy for Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for the Government of Myanmar (2005).
; Conducted Feasibility Report on Micro and Small Enterprise Development Fund: Kingdom of Cambodia (mSEDF-C) on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, Royal Government of Cambodia, Phnom Penh
; Developing HRD Integrated Programme Package for Industrial Enterprise Development for Human Resources Development Branch of UNIDO.
Moreover, under the International Centre for Cluster Competitiveness and Growth (IC3G) established within the Institute with the support of DC(MSME), Ministry of MSME, Government of India, EDI has experience of handling Cluster Development Programmes. The Institute is also working as a National Resource Agency in several handloom clusters in the country with the support of DC(Handloom), Ministry of Textile, Govt. of India.
The Institute has experience of handling more than 500 Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) in various parts of the country and even outside with the support of Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Government of India.
Moreover 21 ‘Growth Programmes’ were successful completed in 12 product sectors across the country. Some of the programmes were supported by SIDBI and others were sponsored by FNST, Germany. As a result of these programmes 469 MSMEs and 433 Business Counsellors were benefited.
Similarly with the support of SIDBI, 128 Performance Improvement Programmes (PIP) were conducted and 5697 entrepreneurs in different States were trained. Moreover, four Region/Product Specific Export Programmes were conducted by the Institute. As a result 23 MSMEs started doing business with the CIS countries, 55 started exporting to South Africa, 13 firms started export to Australia.
Presently EDI is implementing BDS Market Development Project (‘Implementing BDS in MSME Cluster’) in four dusters namely, leather cluster, Kolkata, Chennai and Santiniketan and dyes & chemical cluster, Ahmedabad. The project is supported by SIDBI.
With the support of DC(MSME), Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India, the institute has set up a Centre called International Centre for Cluster Competitiveness and Growth (IC3G) to spearhead its cluster development activities. As mentioned earlier, the Centre has successfully implemented Cluster Development Programmes (CDPs) in 7 SME clusters, 7 handloom and 1 handicrafts cluster. Moreover, it is providing strategic handholding support to other cluster development agencies in the country. The Ministry of Textile appointed EDI as a National Resource Agency (NRA) for initiating cluster development in select handloom clusters in the country. The Institute has experience of providing handholding support to 12 SME clusters, 20 handloom clusters, 5 khadi & village industry clusters and 6 coir clusters in the country. EDI also has been appointed as a National Technical Agency (NTA) under Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) Programme of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Coir Board, Cluster Management and Technical Agency (CMTA) for handling Mega Clusters in Shivsagar, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir under the aegis of Ministry of Textile and Cluster Resource and Management Agency (CRMA) to support handloom cluster development and monitoring in 158 clusters spread across 10 States. With the support of the Government of Gujarat we have successfully implemented cluster development programmes in 3 clusters and presently are working in 4 MSME clusters.
GENERAL ITEC GUIDELINES
1. The classes will be held from Monday to Friday. All Saturdays and Sundays are holidays.
2. It is compulsory to attend classes regularly. Course completion certificate will not be awarded to those with less than 95% attendance.
3. If a participant is unable to attend class, he/she must seek prior permission from the respective Course Director.
4. If a participant wishes to go outside Ahmedabad, he/she must obtain a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from his/her respective Embassy in New Delhi addressed to the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and submit the same to the Institute.
5. The participants have to follow the rules and regulations of the Institute.
6. Participants will hand over their ticket and passport to the Institute on the first day of the course. The passport will be returned after a day while the ticket will be kept with the Institute for re-confirmation and will be returned to participants on the last day of the training programme.
7. Course details on individual training programmes are given under Forthcoming Programmes at EDI web site :www.ediindia.org
VENUE AND ACCOMMODATION
The programme will be organized at wi-fi enabled EDI Campus located in a serene and pleasant environment, 5 kms away from the Ahmedabad International Airport on the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Highway in Gujarat State. Ahmedabad is well connected by air and rail with the commercial hub centre-Mumbai and the capital city-New Delhi. Participants will be housed in International Standard double occupancy, AC rooms which are well furnished with cot, bed, blankets and pillows. All the rooms have attached bath-toilet. The campus also has courts for outdoor games like; volleyball, football and badminton, and facilities for indoor games, like; table-tennis, chess and carrom. It also houses a gym. Classrooms are also airconditioned. Semi-formal attire would be preferred in classrooms. However, participants may like to carry formal clothing for group photo and valedictory function. During study visits, participants will be put up in hotels. Requests for single occupancy accommodation will not be entertained. The Institute will not make any sort of arrangements for friends or family members of the participants and hence the participants are requested to ensure that they are not accompanied by anybody. Throughout the training programme, EDI will facilitate participants to visit places of interest in and around the city. However, for better management of the programme, it may please be noted that participants cannot leave the campus on their own without seeking explicit permission from the Institute.