In a move that would provide a boost to employment of country's engineers worldwide, India is all set to become a member of the International Engineers Mobility Forum that sets benchmarks for engineers in over 11 countries.

The forum, which gave a provisional membership to India in 2003, is expected to make it a permanent member during its meet in 2007.

Announcing this on Wednesday, President of the Institute of Engineers ( India) VJ Vasoya said that the move was imperative in the post-WTO environment since Indian engineers were in huge demand across the globe.

"The membership would essentially provide professional parity to Indian engineers vis-a-vis their peers in most developed countries. The certification would soon become mandatory for any engineer wanting to pursue work in the member countries," he said.

Countries like USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and New Zealand were currently members of the global forum and India, Singapore and Bangladesh its provisional members.

After India gets a permanent membership, engineers with seven years of field experience and certified continuous professional development can take a test conducted by a national Board of Certification for Engineers to qualify for the certification.

"Approximately five lakh engineers pass out from Indian colleges every year and over a lakh go out in pursuit of work outside the country. This certification would arm them with the requisite professional competence desired in the global market," president elect of the institution Dr. S.C. Naik said.

(www.hindustantimes.com)