Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Feb 6 (IANS): India is to set up a rural technology park in the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire, in addition to an information and communication technology park that has been inaugurated in the former French colony.

This was stated by Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur during her visit to Côte d'Ivoire last month, during which she met President President Alassane Ouattara among other senior officials.

India inked two agreements with Côte d'Ivoire - one on establishing an Ivorian-Indian joint cooperation commission and another agreement between the ministry of foreign affairs of the African nation and the Foreign Services Institute of the Indian external affairs ministry.

The agreements will enable Côte d'Ivoire to benefit from Indian expertise in different areas, including training.

“Hundreds of Ivorian government executives and students have already benefited from internships in India,” said a statement from the Indian mission in Abidjan.

Kaur said the Indian government planned to create a rural technology park in Côte d'Ivoire, that would be in addition to the Mahatma Gandhi Technology Park in Grand-Bassam, a city east of Abidjan. The Mahatma Gandhi park is in the sphere of technology information, communication and biotechnology.

President Alassane Ouattara expressed happiness at the completion of the project that he said will open up the way to other initiatives, including training of human resources and transfer of technology.

Kaur thanked the president for his country's support to India in its bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

The Indian minister also extended an invite to President Ouattara to visit India in May.

The India-Africa Summit is set to be held sometime in the latter part of the year after the Indian general elections.

Côte d'Ivoire, formerly Ivory Coast, is a French-speaking country in West Africa with a population of 22.4 million. It borders Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.