the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday inaugurated the 20th anniversary celebrations of Asian Civil Engineering Co-ordinating Council (ACECC) at Cidade de Goa-IHCL SeleQtions, Dona Paula.
The high-profile event saw in attendance civil engineers from 14 countries and also engineering students from Goa and neighbouring Belagavi.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said, “India is a world leader in creating engineering talent, as every year engineers in significant numbers pass out of top institutions like IIT, NIT, etc. Around the world, Indian engineers are at leadership positions with top firms.”
The Chief Minister also assured the gathering that India was the right destination for investment because the government was working on creating infrastructure for growth and development.
“Last week’s decision of the GST Council to slash corporate tax is a revolutionary move to promote investments in industry. The government announced reduction in corporate tax from 35% to 25.17%, which is a massive trigger to promote growth and revive sentiment,” he added.
Minister of Art & Culture and Tribal Welfare Govind Gaude was the guest of honour at the event. Addressing young engineering students, Gaude said that civil engineers were involved in a number of projects, which are very important for society like safe water supply, sewerage treatment, roads and railways and etc.
He continued, “There are a lot of challenges for civil engineers today. Consider flood management as an example. Students from Goa must have witnessed heavy showers in the State after many years. We all have observed the adverse effects of it. To overcome such challenges, we need planning. Rivers should be dredged properly and access to drainage is must in all projects.”
A number of other dignitaries were present as well on the occasion, including Dr SL Swamy, chairman of Institution of Civil Engineers India (ICE), Dr Kenichi Horikoshi, secretary general, ACECC, Prof Osamu Kusakabe, immediate past chair of ACECC and Prof RM Vasan, chair of ACECC.
Dr Swamy informed that ACECC had only 5 member engineering societies when it was formed in 1999, but that number has risen to 14 as of now. Today, societies from countries like US, Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Australia, Mongolia, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar are part of ACECC.
Dr Horikoshi said, “36% of world’s population belongs to ACECC countries. That is why activities of ACECC are very important. Today, we are world’s largest civil engineering institution. We have chosen Goa to host Civil Engineering Conference in Asian Region (CECA), which will be held in September 2022. There will be 800 participants for CECA from fields like academia, infrastructure, industry and governance.”
In his address, Prof Kusakabe said that many members of ACECC have bilateral relations with civil engineering societies of the US and the UK, but that is not sufficient for mitigation of natural disasters in Asia region and protection of environment.
It is for this reason that member societies of ACECC share knowledge with each other so that their countries are equipped to deal with such natural challenges. Prof Kusakabe further said that 90% of people affected by natural disasters are in Asia.
