New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who skipped a bilateral visit to Ghana earlier this month due to Parliamentary work, on Tuesday night inaugurated through video conferencing a Centre of excellence for communications and IT in Accra, saying India is finalising arrangements to enhance its 15 million dollars credit to that country.

The Centre has been named after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who "is a great son of Ghana and a distinguished citizen of Africa," Vajpayee said while declaring it open from New Delhi.

Vajpayee said it was Annan's idea to set up such an institution of empowerment in Ghana to serve the entire West African region.

Recalling his meeting with Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor in Nigerian capital Abuja on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit last Friday, Vajpayee said he had explained to him why he had to return home without going through his scheduled visit to Ghana.

Describing this institution as a symbol of the strong and enduring partnership between India and Ghana, the Prime Minister said "it is a partnership forged during our struggle for independence, cemented during our joint campaign against colonialism and apartheid, and sustained by our shared aspirations for democracy and development."

He voiced India's desire to further enrich this relationship by strengthening and diversifying bilateral cooperation in mutually beneficial directions.

Vajpayee said in response to increased demand by students and professionals from Ghana for training in various disciplines in Indian institutions under the ITEC programme, Government has decided to double the seats from 30 to 60. India also offers five scholarships to students from Ghana to study in Indian universities, he said.

On the existing 15 million dollar line of credit, he said its scope could be extended to include purchases of equipment.

Describing as "promising" areas of cooperation in small and medium enterprises, agriculture, irrigiation, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications, the Prime Minister said there were many more vistas for bilateral cooperation yet to be opened.

Observing that IT exports crossed 10 billion dollars this year, Vajpayee said India hoped to raised this figure to 50 billion dollars by 2008.

President Launches Modern ICT Centre Today

President John Agyekum Kufuor will today launch Ghana’s first Advanced Information Technology Institute (AITI), The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in Information, Communication and Technology at the centre’s auditorium, near Ghana Institute of Journalism in Accra.

The centre, which was supported by India with $2 million, marks and important landmark in the country’s quest to strengthen her IT human resource and software development capacities.

The centre is the result of an excellent collaboration between the Governments of Ghana and India. India’s software industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in its economy, with a growth rate of more than 26 per cent during 2002-03, with a turnover of US$12.7 billion and exports of US$10 billion