Export Oriented Enterprises (EOE) exports amounted to Rs 31.3 billion from January 2021 to September 2021, compared to Rs 26.2 billion from January 2020 to September 2020, representing an increase of 19.4%.
These figures were communicated, this morning, by the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, during a press conference as regards the performance of the Export Oriented Enterprises (EOE) held at the seat of the Ministry in Port Louis.
Referring to the increase in exports of the EOE sector in the wake of the accentuated international competition and new challenges such as lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Minister Bholah highlighted that this has been possible due to the resilience of the EOE’s operators and the regular meetings that were maintained with relevant industry partners so as to allow gradual recovery in production.
On this score, the Minister outlined that the EOE consists of enterprises such as Textile and Clothing; Fish and fish derivatives products; jewelry and precious stones; Medical Devices; and Watches and Clocks, among others. He further added that the main markets of the EOE sector comprise notably, South Africa; United Kingdom; France; and United States of America.
Moreover, he emphasised that figures for the period of January 2021 to September 2021 show that the exports as regards Textile and Clothing has increased by 13.4% while for the fish sector, there has been an increase of 8.7% in exports. In addition, the Minister indicated that the Jewelry sector exports increased from Rs 1.8 billion from January 2020 to September 2020 to Rs 2.5 billion for the same period in 2021, representing an increase of 42.4%.
Speaking of the exports of Medical Devices, Mr Bholah stressed that increase in Exports jumped from Rs 814 million in January 2020 to September 2020 to Rs 1.1 billion for the same period in 2021, representing a rise of 44.6 %. This was due to an increase in orders from major operators brought about by the sanitary crisis of COVID-19, he added.
Furthermore, he stressed that Government will continue to create the right environment and provide the necessary incentives and packages to improve the business climate, and, in this context, has put in place a range of schemes to improve the business environment.
The measures include: the Freight Rebate Scheme from which 94 enterprises have benefited of an assistance of Rs 106,8 million; the Trade Promotion and Marketing Scheme (TPMS) where 101 enterprises benefited from an assistance of Rs 635,8 million; implementation of the Industrial Policy and Strategic Plan (2020-2025); and a Budget Fund of Rs 5 billion for the Modernisation and Transformation Fund so as to encourage companies to modernise their operations and acquire advanced technologies. A workshop was also organised on 11 November 2021 by the Ministry to address the mismatch in the manufacturing sector and bring together industry to develop a roadmap.
The Minister indicated that some 36,407 jobs (including 16,223 expatriates) in 235 companies were created in June 2021 and expressed hope that the performance of the EOE exports, which contributes to some 70% of the country’s total exports, excluding sugar, will continue with this trend until the end of 2021.
Mr Bholah also recalled how his Ministry has been at the forefront to support its members by extending valuable advice, facilitating logistics activities, and implementing training programmes that are highly critical for the sector as the services provided by the EOE sector are indeed highly important for the Mauritian economy at large.
He concluded by reassuring exporters that Government will continue to act as facilitator and provide the necessary support and work in collaboration with concerned stakeholders so that the EOE sector remains a major pillar of the economy.
