The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, today inaugurated Ebene Cyber Towers in Mauritius. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said:

"It is for me a great honour and real privilege to be in Mauritius. The natural splendour of your beautiful island country and the presence of a large number of people of Indian origin make my visit to Mauritius a truly memorable one. From the day I and members of my delegation arrived in Mauritius, we have felt the warmth of your affection in your welcome, which is an expression of age-old ties and enduring friendship, cooperation and understanding between our two countries. I must express my warmest thanks to all of you and at the same time convey to you the greetings and goodwill of entire Indian nation.

Mauritius looks upon its citizens as a great treasure of human resource. Their immense contribution to nation building has resulted in the emergence of Mauritius as a modern nation, with a vibrant society and a buoyant economy. We in India are justly proud of your remarkable achievements in all these respects shaping the destiny of Mauritius and scripting a story of highly successful post-colonial development. You have been able to harness the varied resources of many languages, many religions and many ethnic groups to create a pluralistic and democratic Mauritius. We salute you for what you have achieved. The world salutes the unique Mauritian personality which is a fine product of the harmonious coexistence of races, religions and cultures, all the people working together to build a new chapter of development and social harmony.

The Ebene Cyber Tower symbolizes new India's new relationship with a new Mauritius. This symbolizes the strategic partnership of both our countries in the IT sector and I sincerely heralds the launch of Mauritius as a centre of IT excellence. This cyber tower will create enormous opportunities for Business Process Outsourcing and for development of software solutions. I congratulate the Honourable President of Mauritius Sir Aneerood Jugnauth and Prime Minister Paul Berenger for the successful realization of their dream. Their emphasis on using science and technology as a major input into development is truly far-sighted and its results are already visible here and now. The multi-lingual abilities of the Mauritian population will be an invaluable asset for tapping the outsourcing market of not only the English-speaking world but also that of the Francophone clientele.

We are living in an era of globalisation and an era when barriers to trade are falling rapidly. In this era, past trading relationships are getting altered rapidly and traditional trade baskets have to necessarily adjust speedily to meet new requirements and new opportunities on the horizon. Given this dynamism in trade relations, nations no longer have the comfort of secure markets and static export profiles. The challenge then before all nations is to restructure their economies to become more competitive, to become more broad based, to become more skilled and more flexible in order to meet emerging requirements. I believe that as global economic integration proceeds further, it is this common vision which will form the basis of cooperation between countries.

Mauritius has made it a priority to rebuild and reshape its economy in this new order. We in India are also working relentlessly to reshape our economy to meet new challenges. What you have achieved in your own way in promoting liberlaisation and reform is a success story that the whole world admires. What you have achieved in this context of economic liberalization is a success story, admired globally. It is in this context that the field of Information Technology forms an excellent platform for enhancing our economic cooperation and taking it into a new plane. Over the last two decades, the IT and knowledge sectors have grown phenomenally in India and have been a major contributor to our growth processes. These sectors have been built on the deep skills base built up since our independence. We hope that they continue to be in the vanguard of the transformation of the Indian economy. We look forward to contributing to and strengthening the efforts of Mauritius in developing the Information Technology sector as a major growth engine of the future. The challenging effort of fulfilling the aspirations of our two people has been given meaning and content through such cooperative ventures like the one I am inaugurating today.

In this context, the Ebene Cyber Tower is only a first step. I am told that there are plans for further such towers and complexes. You have my assurance that we look forward to cooperating more in this field so that our countries can take our economic relationship to still greater heights, linked by a web of virtual networks and business relations.

National development requires harnessing the full potential of science and technology. Recognizing the importance, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundations of a new scientific temper for a new modern India, the benefits of which our country is reaping today. I am glad that a similar process is at work in this great country and I congratulate the wise leadership that Mauritius has had in completing its phase of transition. Technology is a great liberator for it enables a larger number of people to participate in and benefit from processes of development. In a globalized world, technology is also a unifying force bringing together market and producer, and eliminating the constraints of geographical distance and lack of natural resources. Globalization demands new strengths and capabilities and you have our assurance that India is fully committed to stand by Mauritius in meeting these challenges in this vital area.

Our strategic partnership in new and modern technologies will open up new opportunities for education and employment for our youth and augment the growth process in both our countries. The expanding scope of cooperation in field of information technology has upgraded the level of bilateral contacts to frontier areas of science and technology and made us genuine partners in the digital sphere.

While the establishment of facilities for information and communication technologies is important to generate impulses for progress, it must be accompanied by the building up of capacities in other areas as well. This should include educational and training facilities, at a level commensurate with the best international standards. This is essential, since the progress of any nation today depends greatly on the quality of its human resources. Mauritius can count on the support of India for this endeavour. Let us all come together to make India and Mauritius genuine partners in this quest.

Before I end, I want to note that this is a project which has benefited enormously from the goodwill of all Mauritian leaders. I appreciate Prime Minister Berenger for being here today and thank him for inviting me to this event. I know that President Jugnauth has lent his full support to the Cyber Tower all the while it was being planned and built. The project was conceived in the year 2000 when Dr. Ramgoolam led the Mauritian Government and I am thankful for his support to this project in its early days. I want to express appreciation to all these towering and wise leaders of Mauritius.

With these words, I commend this new Cyber Tower to the fraternal and brotherly people of Mauritius. May this be the home for many, many successful endeavours between our two nations.

Jai Mauritius, Jai Hind!"