Singh offers Mauritius help in infotech sector

Noting that information technology formed an "excellent platform" for enhancing bilateral economic co-operation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India could help Mauritius in developing its information technology sector.

"We in India are working relentlessly to reshape our economy to meet new challenges. It is in this context that the field of information technology forms an excellent platform for enhancing our economic co-operation and taking it into a new plane," Singh said after inaugurating the state-of-the-art intelligent building Cyber Tower, built with India's assistance here.

Singh said the expanding scope of co-operation in the field of technology had upgraded the level of bilateral contacts to frontier areas of science and technology and made the two countries "partners in the digital sphere".

While the establishment of facilities for information technology and communication technologies was important to generate impulses for progress, it should be accompanied by the building up of capacities like education and training facilities at a level commensurate with the best international standards, Singh said.

"Mauritius can count on the support of India for this endeavour," he said.

Lauding the role of the people of Mauritius in building a modern nation with a vibrant society and buoyant economy, the Prime Minister said, "We in India are justly proud of your remarkable accomplishments in shaping the destiny of Mauritius and scripting a story of successful post-colonial development."

India has provided a $100 million credit line to Mauritius for the Cyber Tower project and a conglomerate of two Indian companies Larsen and Toubro and Shapoorji Pallonji completed the project in a record time of 18 months.

Many Indian companies including Infosys and foreign firms have already set up their offices in the Cyber Tower.