Australia-India ink MoU for skills training in agriculture sector

NEW DELHI: India and Australia today signed an agreement for skill development in the agriculture sector.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Agriculture Skills Council of India and AgriFood Skills Australia, according to a statement from the Australian High Commission.

The MoU results from the joint commitment of Australian and Indian Prime Ministers in October 2012 to build bilateral partnerships between skills councils in key sectors such as telecom, retail, mining, media/entertainment and agriculture, it added.

On this initiative, the Australian High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling said: "This partnership aims to achieve quality industry-led skills training standards in the agriculture sector."

"With India projected to add 12 to 15 million workers to its labour force every year over the coming decades, employability and productivity gains will be inextricably linked to quality standards," he added.

The MoU would promote cooperation in creating quality occupational training, assessment, certification, information and stakeholder engagement standards, the statement said.