The People’s Republic of China has allocated a grant of around Rs 250 million and an interest-free loan of about Rs 250 million which adds up to a total sum of Rs 500 million to the Government of Mauritius.
The agreement was signed on 6 February in Port Louis by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China in Mauritius, Mr Li Li. The funding will help support development projects in priority areas in Mauritius.
In his address at the signing ceremony, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Lutchmeenaraidoo underlined that the two agreements will further enhance friendly relations between Mauritius and China and will bring the economic and technical cooperation to new heights. According to him, both countries will build on this foundation to achieve higher development goals through established and innovative modes of cooperation including a mutually beneficial transfer of capital, technology and business opportunities.
Minister Lutchmeenaraidoo recalled that China remains a strategic partner to Mauritius for having always extended both technical and financial support for the economic development of the country. He recalled that Mauritius is being positioned as an important economic platform between China and Africa in terms of facilitating investment flow into China and vice-versa.
The Finance Minister highlighted the ongoing negotiations with regards to the Jinfei project at Riche Terre, with the Chinese authorities for which he said, a consensus will be reached shortly for the mutual benefits of both countries. He also announced the holding of the Sino-Mauritian Joint Commission in the second quarter of 2015 whereby discussions will focus on key infrastructure projects, water projects among other priority areas.
For his part, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Li Li, highlighted the promising trend to further strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector, textile sector and other promising sectors in addition to improving the infrastructure needs in Mauritius. The agreements, he added, will give a new dimension to the existing cooperation between China and Mauritius. He reiterated the support of China in the economic development of Mauritius where he said that the presence of Chinese enterprises in Mauritius already demonstrates the strong partnership that exists between the two countries.
It will be noted that official China-Mauritius cooperation dates back to 1972 and Mauritius has obtained around Rs 36 billion in the form of grants, interest-free and commercial loans to implement key infrastructure projects, such as the airport, roads, housing, closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, the sewerage system and the water sector.
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