INDIA AND ROMANIA
SIGN MoU FOR COLLABORATION IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
MoU
TO ESTABLISH COORDINATION COMMITTEE TO IDENTIFY DELIVERABLES IN
IT SECTOR
SHRI
PRAMOD MAHAJAN AND MR. DAN NICA SIGN MoU
India and Romania
today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) institutionalising
a framework for cooperation and collaboration in critical sectors
of Information Technology for an initial period of five years.
The MoU which establishes a Coordination Committee to facilitate
and identify areas of cooperation, will focus on cutting-edge
technologies in the IT sector. The MoU while recognising the potential
for intensive trade between the two countries in the IT sector,
underlines the need to tap the abilities and opportunities in
the sector in a more comprehensive and focussed manner. A key
feature of the MoU is the focus on the given available opportunities
for both the countries to consolidate collaboration in the areas
of investment, joint ventures, joint initiatives, technology development
in critical IT sectors. The MoU also envisages the search for
opportunities keeping in mind the available market potential in
the IT sector for both countries. The MoU was signed by Mr. Pramod
Mahajan, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Communications
and Information Technology and Mr. Dan Nica, Minister for Communications
and Information Technology on behalf of the Government of Romania.
The MoU focusses
on principal areas of cooperation in the IT sector. These include:
the search for initiatives for cooperation in Human Resource Development
for IT education and IT based education, software development,
e-Commerce and e-Governance, internet applications, manufacture,
design and trade of IT and electronics hardware. A key aspect
of the MoU is the focus on the search for exploring opportunities
in third country markets. This has been done keeping in mind the
inbuilt potential in the IT sector existing in both countries.
This initiative is being looked upon as an opportunity to build
long standing business partnerships in the field of technology
and foster business partnerships between the two countries.
It is understood
that the MoU will facilitate business opportunities between the
two countries in the areas of IT enabled services and IT solutions.
It is expected that this institutional mechanism shall create
opportunities in areas of IT consulting, processing services,
custom application development, network consulting and integration,
e-business solutions, business process outsourcing, desktop and
network outsourcing, certification of electronics and IT products.
The MoU also provides the opportunity to share and exchange experience
on implementation of e-Governance applications.
Earlier, prior to
the signing of the MoU, Shri Pramod Mahajan had extensive discussions
with his counterpart Mr. Dan Nica. During the discussions, Shri
Mahajan gave an indepth analysis of India’s progress and growth
in the IT sector. He specifically stressed on the strategising
efforts of the Indian IT industry in diversifying their growth
prospects in markets across the world. The current initiative
of the Indian IT industry was to diversify into different market
segments keeping in mind the needs and requirements of the region.
The Minister emphasised the importance of harnessing opportunities
between India and Romania in critical IT sectors. This initiative
would not only spur growth in the domestic market, it would also
offer new growth opportunities for both countries in their search
for external markets. The Minister also outlined the policy initiatives
of the Government and specifically stressed on the initiatives
undertaken to tackle the ‘Digital Divide’ in the country, and
the endeavour of the Government to provide value added connectivity
to the people and take IT to the Masses.
The Romanian Minister
is being accompanied by a large delegation comprising of senior
representatives of the Romanian Government.
