The Cabinet met today under the chairmanship of the Acting Prime Minister, the Hon. Louis Steven Obeegadoo. The highlights of the deliberations are as follows:
- Cabinet has agreed to the holding of the third Ministerial Conference on Maritime Security and Safety on 16 November 2023 in Mauritius. The Conference would be preceded by a Senior Officials meeting on 14 and 15 November 2023.
The main objectives of the Conference are to, inter alia:
- exchange and agree on the conditions for the prevention and preparedness against marine pollution in the region, based on several actions to test national and regional plans in this area;
- follow up on the outcome of the first regional Conference on substance abuse and drug trafficking held in April 2023;
- reflect on the support to be extended to the newly established Contact Group against Illicit Maritime Activities;
- discuss the formulation of a regional policy/framework for ports security and safety of navigation; and
- promote the establishment of a Forum of African Coast Guards.
- Cabinet has taken note of the performance of Mauritian athletes in the 11th edition of the Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) held from 25 August to 03 September 2023 in The Mauritian team secured a total of 281 medals compared to 224 medals in the IOIG 2019. The athletes won 91 gold medals, 87 silver medals, and 103 bronze medals. Mauritius was ranked in second position on the medal table. New Games records have been set by Mauritian athletes in several athletics/para-athletics and swimming events.
- Cabinet has taken note that a shipment of 51,840 doses of Bivalent Pfizer vaccine (BA. 4-5) would reach Mauritius on 10 September 2023. This consignment is a donation from the US Government facilitated through the COVAX Facility/GAVI Alliance and the World Health Organization.
- Cabinet has taken note of the promulgation of the Public Procurement (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2023, to inter alia, give effect to measures relating to public procurement, contained in the Annex to Budget Speech 2023-24 and to cater for amendments made to the Public Procurement Act through the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023.
- Cabinet has taken note of the promulgation of the Customs (Amendment) Regulations 2023, the Excise (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2023, the Customs Tariff (Amendment of Schedule) (No. 2) Regulations 2023, the Excise (Amendment) Regulations 2023 and the Value Added Tax (E-invoicing) Regulations 2023.
The Regulations provide for the implementation of measures mentioned in the Annex to the Budget Speech 2023-24 relating to revenue laws as well as other policy and technical measures.
- Cabinet has agreed to the organisation of a Regional Workshop on the Establishment of a National Regulatory Framework in Small Islands Developing States by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from 06 to 10 November 2023 in Mauritius. The main objective of the Regional Workshop is to discuss and share experience with policymakers and regulatory staff in SIDS of the Pacific Region on the practical understanding of a national regulatory framework and its elements in alignment with the IAEA International Safety Standards.
The Regional Workshop would contribute to SIDS Member States in the Pacific Region to further strengthen their regulatory infrastructure for radiation safety through the sharing of good practices. It would also help to optimise their resources in the establishment of their licensing, inspection and enforcement systems for more effective and efficient regulatory control of radiation sources and practices, in particular, the new high-end practices.
- Cabinet has taken note that the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative and Institutional Reforms would launch the 16th edition of the Public Service Excellence Award for 2023 on the theme “The future of Public Service: Preparing the workforce for change with focus on productivity and work-life balance”.
The Public Service Excellence Award aims at encouraging public organisations to embrace new methods of work and procedures and to continuously improve the delivery of services while achieving higher productivity and enhancing quality of public service. The underlying objective is to promote a performance-oriented, customer-friendly and accountable public service. Parastatal bodies would be included as a new category of public organisations to participate in the Award. The three best institutions in each category and the winner of the Jury Award, if any, would obtain cash prizes.
- Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent participation of the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives in the fourth Singapore Sub-Saharan Africa Meeting held in Singapore.
The objective of the meeting was to renew relations between Singapore and African countries after the COVID-19 pandemic and to reflect on ways and means of enhancing existing relations with a view to pursuing the country’s long-standing engagement with Africa. The Minister also had meetings with, inter alia, the Prime Minister of Singapore and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore.
- Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent participation of the Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage in the G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting held in Varanasi, India. The Kashi Culture Pathway-Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary, which is a framework for countries to collaborate, mutually build capacity and take collective actions to safeguard and promote cultural heritage, was endorsed during the meeting.
The Minister also had meetings with, inter alia, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, the Assistant Director General of UNESCO, the President of ICOMOS India, Ministers and representatives of Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Netherlands, the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America.
- Cabinet has taken note of the appointment of Miss Martine Gontier as part-time Chairperson of the Mauritius Renewable Energy Agency (MARENA) Board for a period of two years.
