ITEC Day Celebration 2025.

PRESS RELEASE

Embassy of India
Tunis

Celebration of 60th ITEC  Day in Tunisia

The Embassy of India in Tunisia celebrated 60th Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day on 27 March 2025 at Movenpick Hotel Gammarth, Tunis. His Excellency Mr. Tarak Rebai, Member of Tunisian Parliament, and seniormost ITEC Alumni in the Country, was the chief guest on this occasion.

2.       Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Dr. Devyani U. Khobragade, Ambassador-designate of India to the Republic of Tunisia said that the ITEC programme is a flagship programme of Government of India, which aims to share India’s development experience and expertise with more than 160 partner countries. So far it has trained over 225,000 officials, in both civilian and defense sectors, making it one of the oldest and most successful international capacity-building initiatives.

3.       She said acknowledging the success of this collaboration, the government of India has recently increased the number of training slots available to Tunisia to 100. This increase in the training seats symbolises the commitment of the government of India in sharing its expertise and knowledge with Tunisia within the framework of south-south cooperation. So far around 700 Tunisians have availed the benefit of ITEC training programme. However, only 38 slots could be utilised last year. Therefore, she made an appeal to Tunisian Ministries to make full use of the available slots in coming years.

4.       She further said ITEC programme is not just about professional development; it also offers an enriching cultural experience. While quoting Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s message she said “India is a country which has always played a constructive role on the world stage. Our offer of development aid, our development model is not based on ‘give and take’ but is guided by the developmental requirements of partner countries. Our focus has always been on Capacity Building and Resource Development.”

5.       His Excellency Mr. Tarak Rebai, Member of Tunisian Parliament thanked the Government of India and appreciated India’s Africa development programme and called for further strengthening and reinforcement of people to people exchanges, trade ties and sharing of knowledge and expertise. He said this is especially important as both countries are celebrating the 67th anniversary of establishment of Diplomatic Relations in the year 2025.   Mr Sofien Sebai, Deputy Director, Foreign Trade Development at Ministry of Trade, an ITEC alumni of 2023 recalled his ITEC training experience in the Specialized Course on Select WTO Issues: Agriculture, Services, TRIPS, and RTA at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Centre for WTO Studies. He spoke about his transformative experience during the program, highlighting how the course equipped him with practical insights into global trade dynamics, particularly in agriculture, services, and intellectual property. He thanked the Indian government and ITEC for the invaluable opportunity to deepen his understanding of trade policies and strengthen Tunisia’s international trade partnerships.

6.       The event was attended by around 80 Tunisian beneficiaries of the ITEC Training programmes from different Tunisian Ministries. A short film with Hon’ble Prime Minister’s remarks on ITEC programme and its utility as a capacity building programme was also screened. After the conclusion of the formal part of the programme, Ambassador interacted with all the ITEC alumni to know about  their ‘India experiences’ over an IFTAR dinner with Indian and Tunisian cuisine.

7.       Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme of Government of India covers a wide range of subjects (for more details please visit https://www.itecgoi.in/index). The event report was also put up on our social media in FB, X and Insta and may be accessed at the following links
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gi97BVoNC/.
https://x.com/IndiainTunisia/Status/1905816090590040192
https://www.instagram.com/p/DH_QiHHoqld/?igsh=MWxieGg5emIzMmNyMg==

04 April 2025

***