Jamshedpur, June 17: Ethiopia has joined hands with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to boost the industrial development of the African nation.

An eight-member team from Ethiopia, including state education minister Teshome Lemma, Metals Industry Development Institute (MIDI) director-general Workneh Delelegn and six others from Ethiopian industries and academics, visited CSIR-NML in Jamshedpur to get a glimpse and first-hand experience of the facilities and expertise of the laboratory.

On June 7, CSIR had signed a 7 million mutual dollar agreement with MIDI at Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethopia, to give a fillip to the industrial sector of Ethiopia.

"We are looking forward to have an great working experience with CSIR. Ethiopia has suffered losses due to various war and conflicts. It's time we work towards the development of our nation," said minister Teshome Lemma at a news meet in CSIR-NML on Saturday.

MIDI director-general Workneh Delelegn said the research sector in Ethiopia needs to be developed.

"We have researchers in our country who need advanced knowledge. The collaboration with CSIR will certainly go a long way for the development of Ethiopia in the field of science and technology," he said, adding Ethiopia has witnessed a GDP growth of 10 percent in the last 15 years.

CSIR-NML director Indranil Chattoraj said the principal objective of the multilateral programme was to enhance the competitiveness of engineering sector through a transformation of MIDI into a globally competitive centre of excellence.

"CSIR-NML is the nodal laboratory for the programme that will be jointly executed by four CSIR laboratories in Durgapur, Pilani, Chandigarh and Chennai. Under the agreement with Ethiopia, we will be engaged in over 110 activities for the next three years," Chattoraj added.

The activities include proper training, re-training, infrastructure development and technical education support to students of 36-odd universities in Ethiopia.

"As per the agreement, students from Ethiopia will be trained at CSIR labs and our scientists and researchers will also travel to their country to give impetus to the programme," said Chattoraj.

Earlier in the day, the team from Ethiopia gave multiple presentations and demonstrations highlighting a spectrum of core capabilities of CSIR-NML.