The Cabinet on Wednesday approved two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with France and Fiji.

The MoU with France is on renewable energy (RE) cooperation, and was signed in January. “The objective of the MoU is to establish the basis for promotion of bilateral cooperation in the field of new and renewable energy on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity. It covers technologies relating to solar, wind, hydrogen and biomass energy,” said a statement issued by the Centre.

The MoU entails exchange and training of scientific and technical personnel beside, exchange of scientific and technological information and data. It aims to organise workshops and seminars along with transfer of equipment, know-how and technology. Also, efforts would be made to develop joint research and technological projects.

The MoU will help in the development of technological know-how in the field of renewable energy and thereby aid the process of attaining the ambitious target of 450 GW of installed RE capacity by 2030.

The MoU with Fiji is for cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. It will cover areas such as exchange of research personnel, scientific experts, specialists and technical trainees; enhancement and transfer of technology; development of infrastructure for agriculture development, and development of human resources through training of officers and farmers by conducting seminars and workshops.

Value addition

The MoU would facilitate promotion of joint ventures between private sectors of both the countries and also investment in marketing and value-addition/downstream processing of agricultural commodities.

Under the MoU, a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be constituted to set down procedures, and plan and recommend programmes of cooperation towards achieving its aims through the executing agencies of the two countries. The JWG will hold its meeting alternately in India and Fiji once every two years. The MoU will come into effect on the date of its signing and will remain in force for five years.

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