Embassy of IndiaYangon, Myanmar

Myanmar Institute of Information Technology (MIIT) is a National Centre of Excellence established by the Government of the Republic of Union of Myanmar to impart graduate and post-graduate education and conduct doctoral research in the field of Information Technology. The Institute is being established with financial assistance from the Government of India under a MOU entered into between the two Governments during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to India in May 2012. The International Institute of Information Technology, Bengaluru (IIIT-B) India is the mentor Institution providing technical and academic support to the project.

A Graduation Ceremony for the first batch of MIIT-Post Graduate Diploma in Software Development (PGDSD), was held on April 27, 2014 at the University of Computer Sciences Mandalay(UCSM) the temporary location of the MIIT. The Ceremony was presided by the Honourable Union Minister for Science & Technology of Myanmar, H.E Dr. Ko Ko Oo. The Chairman of Indian Task Force Mr. S. Ramadorai, Ambassador of India to Myanmar, H.E. Gautam Mukhopadhaya, members of the Task Force Mr. Vijay Raghavan, the Director of IIIT-B, Prof S. Sadagopan and others also participated in the Ceremony. Mr. Ramadorai, Ambassador Mukhopadhaya, Prof. Sadagopan and Prof. Raja of the IIIT (B) spoke on the occasion. The Ceremony was also attended by some faculty from IIIT-B, officers from MEA, the Embassy of India at Yangon and Consulate at Mandalay, IT education officials and academia from Myanmar and local media. An industry-graduate seminar attended by various Myanmar computer associations and IT companies was also organized by the UCSM on the sidelines of the ceremony to explore employment opportunities for the PGDSD Graduates. There have also been internship offers for some of the students by Indian IT companies which are being pursued. 

A unique feature of the programme for Myanmar was that the first batch of 30 participants for the MIIT – PGDSD programme was selected through a joint online entrance examination conducted by the Myanmar Ministry of Science and Technology and IIIT-B. They consisted of 27 females and 3 males and included 5 members from IT faculties under the Ministry of Science & Technology to streamline the training into the Ministry's training programmes and help transition the academic teaching from the faculty of the IIIT (B) to their own over the next 5 years. The first six months of the programme was held at IIIT-B, India, from May to October 2014, while the second phase of 3 months was conducted at the temporary campus of MIIT at UCSM from December 2014 to March 2015. During the Programme, the participants were taught an industry tested curriculum by the highly rated IIIT (B) faculty to enable students to gain employment in software development in the world’s leading Companies. The IIIT (B) rated the students and the projects they prepared for the course, very highly. During their stay in India, the participants had an opportunity to visit Bodh Gaya, New Delhi, Agra and Mysore, and experienced the rich cultural and religious diversity of India as well as the rapid strides made by India in economic development. The IIT (B) faculty took special care in the welfare of the students in India.

The Indian Task Force members, notably Mr. Ramadorai, Prof. Sadagopan and Ambassador Mukhopadhaya congratulated the first batch of the PGDSD for their successful participation in the PGDSD programme and thanked the Honourable Union Minister for the support extended by the Government of Myanmar for the project. They also highlighted that with the MIIT, India was offering its best in an industry-tested IT education to neighbouring Myanmar. Ambassador highlighted India's willingness to provide high-value capacity building in IT, Agricultural Science, Management and Entrepreneurship, language learning, industrial training and other areas through its various capacity-building projects in Myanmar (and through the ITEC, in India), and hoped that the application of the training in various areas of the Myanmar economy and government would generate valuable economic spin-offs for Myanmar and enhance relations with India.

India has a fairly substantial commitment amounting to around US$ 25 million for capacity development in IT in Myanmar. Ambassador Mukhopadhaya highlighted these commitments as part of our overall development partnership with Myanmar of roughly US$ 1.75 billion including surface connectivity and other capacity-building projects and credit lines extended to Myanmar over the last few years. In the field of IT, these include successfully implemented projects such as the establishment and subsequent upgradation of the  India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT Skills (IMCEITS) at Yangon, establishment of a Language laboratory and E-resource centre at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon, hardware assistance to the Central Land Records Development Training Centre (CLRDTC) Takkyi Township, Yangon, support for an IT Training Programme for 100 Young Myanmar Entrepreneurs at the Infosys Global Education Centre, India (as part of the Myanmar President U Thein Sein’s Initiative to develop human resource and entrepreneurship in Myanmar), and also a proposed Centre of Excellence in Software Development and Training (CESDT) under the ASEAN-India Fund, besides training for over 100 Myanmar government servants in IT training institutions in India under the ITEC programme.

The ceremony was followed by a meeting of the Task Force presided over by the Union Minister and Mr. Ramadorai. Both sides expressed satisfaction on the progress of civil construction of the MIIT campus at Mandalay and reaffirmed their commitment to begin the regular batches of MIIT from the next Myanmar academic year and commencing the second PGDSD programme as quickly as possible.

28^th April 2015

Embassy of India, Yangon.