GANDHINAGAR: Chief Minister Narendra Modi has suggested setting up of a global forum for sharing higher education and developing partnerships between universities across the world.

Inaugurating an International Conference of Academic Institutions (ICAI) on Wednesday in Gandhinagar, Modi said, "By organizing this conference, Gujarat has created an opportunity for exchange of knowledge."

Terming the world as a global village of knowledge and technological development, Modi exuded faith that such international conferences will provide a platform to the experts of academics and will create a bank of knowledge capital for sharing of knowledge. "This conference will be instrumental in preparing a road map to turn this dream into a reality," he said.

Judith Wolfson of the University of Toronto said that such events create forums for discussion and best practices. Leading industrialist Sanjay Lalbhai said this conference is the first of its kind in the country.

The conference is being held at Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University campus as a part of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit- 2013. Academicians from 260 top universities and academic institutions are taking part in the event to deliberate on various aspects of knowledge sharing and mutually beneficial tie-ups.

Higher education institutes of Gujarat, state government run and international universities signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for knowledge sharing on the occasion.

Meanwhile, at another seminar on export held at National Law University, Modi released 'VISION-2020' - a document on export competitiveness of Gujarat. He stressed on chalking out futuristic export strategy that caters to demands of the future generation.

