Digital Video Conference

Commerce & Industry Minister with Businesspersons

3 May 2019

Good afternoon Sir,

Good afternoon friends,

In view of the limited time, I would talk about the specific context of Mauritius

• Mauritius is Middle Income Economy; very large Indian Diaspora
• Main areas of economic activity are sugar, textiles, financial services, IT and tourism
• Being a small island economy, most goods are imported; Total imports are worth around US$ 5 billion
• Non-Indian imports are around US$ 4 billion annually
• While the market of Mauritius is itself small, the Mauritius Government is positioning itself as a Gateway to Africa.
• Mauritius ranks among the highest in Africa in terms of Ease of Doing Business.
• The people of Mauritius have both English and French speaking skills.
• They have Preferential Trade Agreements with regional blocs in Southern Africa and West Africa.
• They are setting up Special Economic Zones in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Madagascar and Ghana.
• A CECPA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement) is under finalization, which covers their major areas of export.
• The finalization of CECPA will catalyze economic engagement
• The Private sector present here today represent varied sectors including – pharmaceuticals, agro and food products, ICT, education, handicrafts, beverages and paints
• We also have representatives of several Indian PSUs among us who represent – banking, insurance, petroleum retail, telecom, construction

We look forward to a useful discussion and thank you for this opportunity

Thank you