Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister visits Mauritius

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) K. H. Muniyappa paid an official visit to Mauritius from November 30 to December2.

During the visit, Muniyappa called on Mauritius President Rajkeshwur Purryag and Prime Minister Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam.

In these and other official interactions with Mauritian ministers and senior officials, Muniyappa conveyed the greetings and good wishes of the Government and the people of India, and reaffirmed India's commitment to extending all necessary cooperation in the field of small and medium enterprises to Mauritius, in the form of training inputs, institution building, and technology transfer.

This visit follows the recent visit to India by Jangbahadoor Seetaram, Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives of Mauritius, in September 2013, during which two institutional-level MoUs between the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority of Mauritius (SMEDA) and the Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Ahmedabad, and between SMEDA and the National Small Industries Corporation of India were concluded.

The two ministers signed an inter-governmental MoU on cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises between India and Mauritius.

Muniyappa expressed confidence that through this positive engagement, the Ministry would be able to create the ideal framework for further concrete collaboration in this sector, which is critical to the two countries' common vision of inclusive and balanced economic growth.

The MoU provides for further capacity building for developing an appropriate policy and institutional framework in the MSME sector, carrying out surveys and feasibility studies to identify thrust areas and opportunities for development of MSMEs in Mauritius, promoting partnership projects, and providing training for improvement of managerial and technical skills for MSMEs.

During the delegation-level talks, the possibility of setting up of a vocational training cum incubation centre for the benefit of Mauritian SME sector was discussed, along with assistance in developing policies and a robust institutional framework for SME development in the country.

The centre would provide hands on practical training to first generation budding entrepreneurs and unemployed persons in order to equip them with knowledge and expertise for setting up new small enterprises.