Editor, RE: “Agric, education ministries partner to train farmers” (The New Times, November 17). It is very encouraging to read about the new training programme in agriculture mechanisation and irrigation technology which has been launched by the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) South. The Minister of State for Agriculture, Tony Nsanganira, very rightly mentioned that efforts put into skills development will help in job creation. The support being received by the Ministry of Education in this initiative is commendable. Partnerships are of vital importance for sustained growth which has been so well demonstrated in this case between the ministries of agriculture and education. However, it is also crucial to have healthy partnerships between the various government agencies and the private sector, even in areas like tourism, though this sector might presently be the highest foreign exchange earner for the country. Please allow me to share with your esteemed readers and particularly all stakeholders of the country’s booming tourism sector that we are bringing in the President and the Managing Committee of India’s leading travel body, the Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI) from 8 to 11 December with a view to securing their Annual Convention, TAFI 2016, in the first quarter of next year. This Convention will see not less than 1,300 owners and senior management personnel from the travel and tourism sector of India fly into this beautiful land of a thousand hills. They will spend, on average, four to five days in the country enjoying the beauty and the serenity of a yet undisclosed destination. The incremental business for the country would be tremendous. TAFI is a member organization of the apex chamber, the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rwanda’s apex chamber, the Private Sector Federation (PSF). The forthcoming convention will, however, materialise only if PSF, and, more importantly, the various concerned government agencies directly or indirectly associated with tourism, come together and work very closely with each other to make this dream of bringing TAFI 2016, to Rwanda, a reality. Clarence Fernandes
