HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA MAURITIUS

Welcome to High Commission of India Mauritius

India and Mauritius Economic Relations

The bilateral Joint Commission on Economic, Technical and Cultural Cooperation between India and Mauritius has so far held ten meetings. The tenth JMC Meeting held in Port Louis on December 18, 2007 was co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Mauritius, Dr. Rama Krishna Sithanen. In his opening statement, the External Affairs Minister noted that the purpose of his visit was to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and build on the new beginnings that have been made in recent years. He also said that India wished to add substance to this partnership and provide the foundation for its sustained and rapid development taking into account the numerous complementarities that the two countries shared. The agreed minutes of the meeting inter alia covered both the traditional areas of cooperation between the two countries including cooperation in the political and security field, economic, technical and commercial cooperation, and cultural cooperation, as well as new areas such as hydrography, cooperation in exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon in the Mauritian EEZ, bio-technology, etc.

During the visit of the then Prime Minister of Mauritius, Paul Raymond Bérenger from November 19-24, 2003, it was decided to set up a Joint Study Group (JSG) to chart out modalities for establishing a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between the two countries. The JSG was launched at the ninth session of the India-Mauritius Joint Commission held on January 8, 2004 in New Delhi. The JSG report was formally presented to the two Prime Ministers during the State visit of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Mauritius in March-April 2005. During the visit, it was decided to set up an empowered committee to concretise the recommendations of the JSG within a 12-month time frame. On the Indian side, the Empowered Committee is led by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

Bilateral trade between India and Mauritius over the last ten years is indicated below:

From Mauritius to India

Year	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
India’s Exports to Mauritius	161	171	200	163	164	203	258	199	737	1086
India’s Imports from Mauritius	2.01	3.93	6.17	3.26	16.13	7.54	7.19	7.33	14.51	10.07

India was the largest exporter of goods and services to Mauritius in 2007 and 2008 (Jan-Sept.). As per official Mauritius estimates, Indian exports to Mauritius during the period January - December 2008 were MRs. 31.7 billion.

Main items of exports were petroleum products, yarn, woven fabrics, made up textile, bovine meat, fish, rice, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastic, printed books & newspapers, footwear, ceramic products, glass & glassware, aluminium, toys, etc.

Main items of import into India were non-industrial Diamonds, Scrap metal, Multiple Yarn, Glycerin, PVC products.

A MOU for cooperation between State Trading Corporations of India and Mauritius was signed in July 2005.

A three-year Agreement was signed between the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and the State Trading Corporation of Mauritius in July 2007 for supply of all petroleum requirements of Mauritius. SBI Mauritius has extended a credit line to the STC of Mauritius for purchase of the petroleum.

Air Mauritius operates flights to Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai/Bengaluru on a code-sharing arrangement with Air India. The CMD of Air India is represented on the Board of Air Mauritius. Mauritius accorded 'fifth freedom' rights to Air India in 2004 on the South Africa - India route.

There are shipping links between India and Mauritius. The Delmas Shipping Company provides a direct shipping route between Mumbai and Port Louis. In addition, shipping routes are provided by major shipping companies, connecting Mumbai to Port Louis through Oman.

Several Indian public enterprises are functioning in Mauritius since the early 1960s. Bank of Baroda, Life Insurance Corporation, and the New India Assurance were the first to establish operations followed by other PSUs including India Handloom House, Telecommunications Consultant India Ltd., Indian Oil (Mauritius) Limited, Mahanagar Telephone (Mauritius) Ltd., State Bank of India Mauritius Limited.

Over the past decades, Indian-assisted projects in Mauritius include the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Upadhyaya Training Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, Subramania Bharati Eye Centre, etc. Projects established through assistance provided by the Government of India include the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, the Rabindranath Tagore Institute, the Cybertower at Ebene and the Swami Vivekananda International Conference Centre.

Information Technology has emerged as the most prominent area of technical cooperation for the future. An Agreement for cooperation between the two countries in the IT sector was signed in 2000. Prominent Indian IT companies, such as INFOSYS, Hinduja TMT, etc., have established operations in Mauritius. Some other Indian IT companies also have their presence in Mauritius.

Indian tourist arrivals in Mauritius increased from 37,934 in 2006 to 43,624 in 2007 and 43,911 in 2008.