| Indian pavilions will adorn international fairs in Posidonia, Greece and Nor Shipping, Norway, and road shows will be organised in countries with large fleet. |
| Delegations, including ambassadors and high commissioners from these countries, will be hosted in India to showcase the training infrastructure and capabilities of seafarers. |
| Officials said the ministry had already booked two domain names -- IndianSeafarer.com and SeafarersFromIndia.com -- and a website would be launched by April. It also plans CDs for presentation to global shipowners and in other international fora. |
| An Indian seafarers' promotion council will also be put in place, which will be represented by the government and industry. |
| The maritime states will be expected to actively contribute to the council and also promote maritime education and training. |
| The ministry is in the process of identifying markets and sending out interviews and questionnaires to global shipowners, managers and Indian employers. |
| While for the latter, the data is in the final stage of compilation, raw data is still being collected for international markets. |
| According to latest BIMCOISF manpower update, there will be a massive shortage of qualified officers in the world shortly. The survey suggests a shortfall of 23,000 officers by next year, which is expected to double by 2010. |
| The advertising initiative will make Indian seafarers and the country's training capabilities more visible in the international arena. |
| The ministry also believes India has been losing out to countries like China and Philippines because of their better marketing strategies. |
| Officials said such publicity would bring about international recognition of maritime intelligence, thus opening up areas of maritime consultancy, ocean engineering and marine R&D. |
| Greater employment of seafarers abroad would also increase the amount of foreign exchange remittances, they said. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard