By IANS
New Delhi : India's economic diplomacy in Africa is set to get a fillip when Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal participates in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Africa summit in Cape Town later this month.
Sibal will speak at the summit on the role Asia and India can play in fuelling Africa's economic growth and the centrality of Africa to the economic future of the world.
The minister will stress on the need for "filling the skill gap in Africa" by building an education system aimed at producing skilled and talented workforce much in the manner India has done to buttress its knowledge economy.
In his interaction with African heads of state and governments, some of whom are likely to come for this meet, Sibal will focus on different facets of India-Africa relations and ways to deepen trade and investment between the two sides.
Top industrialist Malvinder Singh, CEO and managing director of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, will lead the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation and spearhead the discussions at the summit as a co-chair.
This is part of the "India Everywhere" campaign of the CII, intended to raise the profile of India on the global stage and showcase new opportunities offered by the country's economy growing at the rate of over 8 percent over the last few years.
Top political leaders, officials, business, international organisations, civil society members and experts will gather for the 17th annual WEF meeting that will focus on leveraging Africa's increasingly strategic role in the global arena.
"The meeting will feature innovative partnerships to sustain growth, address human and infrastructure capacity constraints, and assess opportunities for an improved African investment climate," a press release by the CII said here Tuesday.