Goa to set up NRI cell in Canada, says minister by Eugene Correia
The Goa government will set up a Non-Resident Indian cell in Canada, according to Minister of Industries, Francisco D'Souza D'Souza, who also holds the portfolio of Law and Judiciary, said the cell would work to attract foreign investment in the state. He, however, did not disclose when the cell will be set up. He informed that within the next three years, there will be total e-governance in Goa. D'Souza and his colleague, Minister for Trade and Commerce, Art and Cutlure, and Social Welfare, Ramrao G. Dessai, were in Toronto on the last leg of their official visit to attend an IT meeting in Calgary. They visited Montreal and Ottawa meeting government officials before making their rounds in the government offices in Toronto The ministers, who were accompanied by Secretary, Information Technology, Bhupinder Bhalla and IT adviser, Dr. Anupam Saraf, were hosted to a private dinner by Ben Saldanha, of Saldanha Holidays, at his residence in Mississauga. Also present at the function was Ontario Minister for Transport, Hardinder Thakkar, who lives just down the street from Saldanha's house. D'Souza informed that the pace of development in the IT sector was impressive and that chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who is an IT-savvy person, has taken personal interest in the IT industry. The former mayor of Mapusa, a city in north Goa, said that the Parrikar government has proved to be efficient, clean and transparent. For this reason, the people voted the government back in power after three years of first forming the fgovernment he noted. Goa has a history of having new chief ministers very often, and at least twice within a year. He said the government is working hard to make effective changes at all levels of society and make Goa very progressive. Dessai reiterated his colleague's remarks by saying that the government has taken many social measures to improve the lot of the society as a whole. He informed that Goa is headed to become a "pharma-state" because of many pharmaceuticals setting up their manufacturing units in the state. The minister said the government has started a scheme through which students will get loans to further their studies. He disclosed that another program for seniors has been implement where those over 60 years would be given money as persion from the government funds. Single, unmarried women over 50 would also be covered under the program. There are 1.17 lakhs seniors in the state. He emphasized that artists from all disciplines would be encouraged with monetary incentives. The minister was receptive to the idea to send cultural artists to foreign countries to promote Goan culture. He said the surfacing of roads have been undertaken and Goa has taken further initiative in improving the infrastructure in the state. Secretary of IT, Bhupinder Bhalla, Goa is not keen in competiting with states such as Karnataka and Hyderabad in the IT industry but want to be the leader in e-governance. He said the Verna IT park is buzzing with activity with new companies such as D-Link and Central Net make their presence. Goa is more into the hardware sector unlike Karnataka and Hyderabad, he said, adding that some companies have shown interest in setting up call centres in the state. He noted that Goa has adopted the Singapore model in its IT program and that the government is more interested in quality than in quantity. Thakkar welcomed the ministers on behalf of the government and promised to help in any way possible. He also said he would make a point to visit Goa when he goes to India. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
