VietNamNet Bridge – The Indian Embassy in Ha Noi yesterday, Dec 1, held an Indian Technology and Economic Co-operation (ITEC) Day in the capital to meet students who had received scholarships from the organisation.

In a speech delivered at the meeting, Ambassador Ranjit Rae said his Government had annually provided 95 scholarships to Vietnamese and around 1,255 people in Viet Nam had received ITEC scholarships since 1992.

"We always consider ITEC students to be our friends and envoys. We will continue to keep contact with you to further strengthen the Viet Nam-India relationship, especially among people," Rae said.

The programme was initiated in 1964 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and has a presence in 158 countries. It covers several fields including information and technology, communications, management, small and medium enterprise development, environment, English language, finance and accounting.

Nguyen Xuan Vang, head of the Ministry of Education and Training's International Education Development Department, said he hoped the Indian Government would provide more scholarships to Vietnamese people as a contribution to Viet Nam's human resources training for its development.

Also at the event, the ambassador said the Indian Government would donate VND20 billion (US$1 million) for the central provinces which were seriously affected by recent floods.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News