An interactive session between the Indian private sector delegation and representatives of the Government of Mauritius was held yesterday at the Cyber Tower 1 in Ebène at the initiative of the Board of Investment (BOI). The business meeting served as a platform for the Indian investors to discuss and explore investment opportunities in various sectors of the Mauritian economy.
The interactive session was attended by around fifty members of the Indian business community who are currently in Mauritius in the context of the State Visit of the President of the Republic of India, H.E Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil. The business delegation was headed by Mr Navin M. Raheja, Managing Director of the Raheja Developers Ltd, while the Mauritian side was led by the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Jugnauth, accompanied by six Ministers.
Discussions focused on the development of new economic avenues and sectors in Mauritius in addition to the consolidation of the competitiveness and attractiveness of existing sectors which are the financial services, manufacturing, ICT/BPO, logistics, tourism, hospitality and property development that contribute largely to economic growth. The investors were also exposed to a presentation given by the BOI on an overview of the economic activities in Mauritius in particular the emerging sectors such as the centre of excellence for education, innovation and research, medical hub, renewable energy, seafood and aquaculture. Mauritius was also showcased as an investment gateway to emerging markets on the business front. As regards the ease of doing business, Mauritius is ranked first in Africa and is among the top twenty economies across the world.
Addressing the investors, the Vice-Prime Minister, Mr Jugnauth, reiterated the wish of the Prime Minister of Mauritius and that of the President of the Republic of India to further consolidate the strong bilateral economic cooperation and business ties between the two countries. He recalled that Mauritius has welcomed over the past years a number of Indian companies which are contributing to the economic betterment of the country across various sectors of the economy and which are also generating a significant amount of employment.
According to Mr Jugnauth, to triple the GDP per capita from USD 20 000 and achieve the target of GDP MUR 1 trillion before the end of the 2020s, the country will require massive investments in the physical infrastructure which include airport, port, road network, digital connectivity and transport systems. He, therefore, calls for a higher investment from the public and private sectors from both domestic and foreign sources and urges them to tap opportunities offered by the wider regional market and made an appeal to Indian service providers and investors to use Mauritius as an additional platform from which they can provide financial and legal services and structure their international investments, especially into Africa.
Mr Jugnauth also stressed that the diversification of the Mauritian economy remains a major development thrust and that the government is intensifying its efforts towards transforming the island into a world class tax-free shopping, business and leisure activities and that various key actions are being undertaken to position Mauritius as an investment platform between Africa and Asia.
It will be recalled that economic ties between India and Mauritius date back to the 1800s and India remains the main import, economic and investment market for the country. For the year 2010, Indian exports to Mauritius stood at approximately USD 1.1 billion, representing about 22.3% of the Mauritian total exports. Total investments from India account to nearly MUR 2.9 billion thus positioning India as the second single most important foreign investor in Mauritius. On the other hand, outward investments from Mauritius by Mauritian nationals into India stood at about MUR 1.1 billion and the main sectors attracting Mauritian investment in India include banking and financial services, textile, logistics and travel amongst others.
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