The High Commission of India organised a Business Meet on the theme ‘India-Mauritius CECPA Talks: Identifying Opportunities’ on 31 March 2017 at the Hotel Labourdonnais, Port Louis.

In the context of the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic and Commercial Partnership Agreement (CECPA), Deloitte Mauritius made a presentation on specific investment opportunities for Indian companies in Mauritius. The presentation focused on the main sectors of interest to Mauritius, both traditional and emerging, which had the potential to attract investors from India.

Maubank made a presentation on the opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Mauritian companies for leveraging the advantages of Mauritius as a platform for investments to Africa and other destinations.

High Commissioner of India, Mr. Abhay Thakur, spoke about the pride of the place that Mauritius enjoys amongst Indian’s foreign relations. He gave a brief overview of the progress of the CECPA talks including the visit of a delegation from Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India in September 2016, following which a broad understanding on the revised contours of the CECPA and the way forward was reached, constitution of four Working Groups on Economic Cooperation, Goods, Services and Investment and exchange of wish-lists by both sides.

Mr. Thakur also said that the next round of talks would be scheduled as soon as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India (GOI) completes internal consultations with various stakeholders including Indian states, industry bodies and other GOI Ministries. He also said that Indian companies are keen to tap the potential of Mauritius as a gateway to Africa and that the revision of the DTAC and revival of the CECPA talks have attracted the attention of Indian companies looking to do more business with Africa. He also highlighted that besides consolidation of India-Mauritius bilateral economic cooperation, the CECPA would also help in exploring the viability of an India-Mauritius-Africa trade and investment corridor. He expressed optimism that the CECPA talks would be successfully concluded as per the existing mutually agreed timeline of end 2017.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr. Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Consumer Protection, Mr. Ashit Kumar Gungah, graced the occasion as Guests of Honour. Thanking Government of India for its recent initiatives such as the revival of the CECPA negotiations and MFN on tax matters, the Ministers expressed their hope that an early finalization of the India-Mauritius CECPA could potentially boost our bilateral trade and strengthen our economic cooperation.

Around 80 members of the business community of Mauritius participated in the event.

Port Louis
31 March 2017.