Economic and Trade Cooperation between Mauritius and international markets
Consolidating Business and Investment ties between Mauritius and Russia
A Business Forum themed “Mauritius: An Investment Platform of Choice” was organised in Moscow, Russia by the Board of Investment (“BOI”), in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Coordinating Committee on Economic Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa (“AfroCom”).
The forum has been an opportunity for Russian businessmen and investors to be aware on investment opportunities in Mauritius, new areas of development and advantages of using Mauritius as logistics and financial services platform. The Russian businessmen and investors expressed interests to explore opportunities in property development, ship building, marine R&D activities for the cosmetics industry, warehousing of rails and rolling stock components for Africa and also using Mauritius as a point of entry to carry out agricultural production in Africa.
The BOI, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and AfroCom are jointly planning an inward mission of Russian investors and businessmen to Mauritius next year. BOI and AfroCom are finalising the signature of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate Russian investments into Africa, using Mauritius as a platform.
Signing of an MoU between the Board of Investment and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT)
On the 13th November 2017, the Board of Investment (“BOI”) organised a workshop for the CCPIT delegation where the main objective was to demonstrate the various opportunities that Mauritius has to offer to the China business partners.
The signature of the MoU between the BOI and the CCPIT Shandong has also taken place during the workshop and the aim of this MoU is to develop greater opportunities of trade and investment between Mauritius and Shandong Province.
Development of a Special Economic Zone in Senegal
In line with the Africa Strategy, the Government of Mauritius entered into a Joint Development Agreement with the Government of Senegal in view of developing an International Industrial Park in Diamniado, Senegal (“IIPD”). The objective of this IIPD is to develop and industrial and commercial free zone called Dakar Integrated Special Economic Zone (“SEZ”).The two Governments joined hands by setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle, the Société des Infrastructures d’Affaires Atlantic (SIAA), in which the Mauritius Africa Fund held a stake of 51%.
The project as a whole will be developed on 53 hectares of land and shall be implemented in 2 stages. The Agreement provides Mauritian Companies access to warehouses and office space totaling around 31,000 square meters while the focus of the project extends over five major sectors listed as follows:
- Logistics (Including Freeport and warehousing);
- ICT & BPO;
- Services;
- Textiles and apparels; and
- Manufacturing (including agro processing and light engineering).
Many more Special Economic Zones shall be developed in the long run in other strategic regions in Africa for the benefit of more investors subsequently.
Mauritius is now better equipped to offer more opportunities to global businesses in respect of international administration of cross border investments, planning and development of business strategies in the African realm.
In the same vein, MITCO proposes a panoply of structures and services to its existing and potential clients in order to benefit from the above business opportunities.