Current Affairs - International - Discussion

The Mahatma Gandhi IT and Biotechnology Park (MGIT-BP), built with the assistance from India was inaugurated at Grand-Bassam in Cote d'Ivoire, a West African country. It was jointly inaugurated by Ambassador of India to Cote d'Ivoire, Sailas Thangal and Cote d'Ivoire's Vice President, Daniel Kablan Duccan. MGIT-BP is an important milestone for the 150th celebration of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It is a dedicated Free Trade Zone (FTZ) for IT and Biotechnology. It was built through EXIM ( Export-Import) Bank's Lines of Credit (LoC) of $20 million. It included 2 parts- Architectural concept & design for the buildings of FTZ and construction of the main building to host IT enterprises which was implemented by Shapoorji Pallonji, an Indian Conglomerate company. Second part included supply and commissioning of equipment which consisted computer assembly plant, VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) with satellite earth station, networking lab, human DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) lab, data storage area network, an audio-visual lab, and a power generator which was implemented by United Telecom Limited (UTL), an Indian company.