Mauritius seeks foreign investment at summit

Mauritius wants to be as much an industrial hub as it is a tourist attraction. At the Mauritius International Investment Forum held in Balaclava on June 15-16, the government drew global investors’ attention to Mauritius’ favourable standing on various economic indices.

Speaking at the forum, Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam said the days of “one-off” value additions are over. “We want to support genuine value creators. That is where institutions have a role to play.”

He said that there are no “sacred cows” and that “lame duck” institutions that stand in the way of growth need to be phased out.
“We have earmarked $10 billion to finance infrastructure development projects over the next few years. We hope that part of the investment will come from the private sector —either in full or through PPP (public private partnership) projects,” Ramgoolam noted.

Mauritius ranks 20th in the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business 2011’ report and 55th out of 139 nations in the Global Competitiveness Report 2010-11 of the World Economic Forum.

The four sectors considered to be the pillars of the economy — tourism, textiles, sugar and the financial sector — contribute only 22% of the GDP, with IT and health showing considerable growth.
Over the last four years, Mauritius has seen FDI of ¤5,300 crore, which is more than the previous four decades’ figures put together.