India to help Myanmar in IT and farm sector

India is going all out in its efforts at capacity building in Myanmar, a key neighbour and the only South East Asian country it shares land boundary with. Information technology, skill development, agriculture are the key areas India is focusing on.

India is going all out in its efforts at capacity building in Myanmar, a key neighbour and the only South East Asian country it shares land boundary with. Information technology, skill development, agriculture are the key areas India is focusing on.

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Efforts are also afoot to set up the Myanmar Institute of Information Technology (MIIT).

The task force for the same is headed by S Ramadorai, advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on skill development.

In the field of agriculture, India has offered assistance to set up a Rice Bio Park in Myanmar and renowned agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan is heading these efforts. Another area the two countries are working together on includes production of cardamom in the Naga Self Administered Zone.

India's ambassador-designate to Myanmar Gautam Mukhopadhyay is an expert on implementing capacity building projects among others. Mukhopadhyay has had a very successful stint in Afghanistan before heading to another crucial and strategically-important appointment in Myanmar. He takes charges at an important juncture, when Myanmar is taking baby steps into democracy and Indian stakes in the southeastern country, abutting its north east, is too high.

The skill-development has been playing a key role in India-Myanmar ties.

An India-Myanmar Industrial Training Centre has been set up by HMT(I) in Pakokku and a second centre is being set up in Myingyan.

The other initiatives in the area with Indian assistance include Myanmar-India Centre for English Language (MICELT), a Myanmar-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (MIEDC) and an India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT Skills (IMCEITS).