The Indian Embassy in Hanoi hosted an Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day in Hanoi on October 17, gathering former recipients of scholarships from the programme.

The programme is part of activities to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of Vietnam-India diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of the two countries’ strategic partnership. It also marks the progress in technical cooperation between the two countries.

The programme initially offered 75 scholarships to Vietnam every year, but the number will be doubled to 150 from the academic year of 2012-2013. The decision is expected to further strengthen the relations between the two countries.

Initiated in 1964 by late Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the ITEC programme has a presence in 158 countries across the world. It covers several fields including IT and telecommunications, management, small and medium enterprise and rural development, environment, English language training, finance and accounts.-VNA