India to set up vocational institute in Libya

India will set up a vocational training institute and agricultural research labs in Libya to help the north African nation develop its human resource, Indian ambassador here Anil Trigunayat has said.

"We want Libya to develop its own human resource. Hence India has offered to set up a vocational training institute and even agricultural research labs as a gift from the people of India. We hope this will happen soon," Trigunayat said.

Also, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade will conduct a training programme in April-end in collaboration with the Libyan ministry of economy to impart training to Libyan managers, traders and exporters, especially in the small and medium enterprises, he said.

Ambassador Trigunayat was briefing the media here Monday about Indian participation in the April 2-12 Tripoli International Fair in which over 100 Indian companies will be present.

The event is organized by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and the companies will have business-to-business (B2B) interactions with their Libyan counterparts.

Indian investments in Libya total more than $4-5 billion. Trade between the two countries exceeded $2 billion in 2012. The major sectors for cooperation between the two countries are identified as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, power and renewable energy, IT and telecom, oil & gas, services and agriculture.

Ambassador Trigunayat said India provides more than 50 fully funded scholarships every year under various schemes that run across 200 courses in over 45 prestigious Indian institutes.

"More and more Libyans are availing of these and many more are visiting India to study various subjects including the English language," he said.