Maputo — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Italian government on Thursday signed in Maputo an agreement that establishes mechanisms of multilateral financing for a project to develop Mozambican human resources in the sphere of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Apart from training trainers, civil servants and government leaders in matters linked to ICTs, this project, budgeted at 1.3 million euros (about 1.6 million US dollars), also envisages setting up training centres in Mozambique's three geographical regions (north, centre and south). The project, to be implemented over a period of two years, is a component of a wider programme on new technologies undertaken since 2002 by the government's Technical Unit for the Implementation of Computer Policy , with the support of UNDP.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Mozambican Minister of Science and Technology, Venancio Massingue, said the agreement was a valuable contribution to implementation of the government's five year programme.

He said the government is determined to ensure that citizens can use the available technological resources so that they can produce "better and more efficiently".

He thought the agreement would make it possible to train a considerable number of civil servants and other state employees at various levels and in all regions of the country.

Signing the agreement were the UNDP representative in Mozambique, Marylene Spezzati, and the Italian ambassador, Guido Larcher.