A working session between the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, and representatives of the World Bank (WB) led by the WB Country Director for Mauritius, Mrs Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, was held, yesterday morning, at the seat of the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, in Port Louis.
The WB Country Director is currently on a visit in Mauritius and Rodrigues from 14 August to 18 August 2023 and is accompanied by the newly appointed Country Representative for Mauritius and Seychelles and Senior Country Economist, Mr Sjamsu Rahardja.
In a statement, Mrs Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough highlighted that the meeting allowed her to introduce to the Minister the new Country Representative for Mauritius and Seychelles who will be based in Mauritius for the next three to four years.
Moreover, she indicated that areas of cooperation were discussed during the meeting including the contribution of agriculture to climate change solutions and the work that could be done between the WB and the Ministry of Agro-industry and Food Security in that regard. “We have a long history working together and this is something that we would like to continue to do in the future,” the WB Country Director pointed out.
For his part, Mr Rahardja underlined that today is his third working day as the Country Representative for Mauritius and Seychelles and Senior Country Economist. “The main objective of the meeting today was to introduce myself personally, but also to have a thorough discussion with the Minister about the priorities of the agricultural sector given the importance of the history and role of the agricultural sector in driving growth in Mauritius,” he said.
Furthermore, the Country Representative observed that discussions also pertained to how both institutions can sustain their longstanding cooperation to help the Government to succeed in its development course.
The Country Representative
Mr Sjamsu Rahardja joined the World Bank in 2005 as a consultant for the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Unit of the East Asia region where he worked on investment climate and trade policy issues.
In 2007, he moved to Indonesia as an Economist and then Senior Economist for the World Bank PREM unit and worked on trade and private sector issues and development policy lending.
From 2014-2019 he was a Senior Economist for Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment based in Yangon, Myanmar, and in 2019 he became a Senior Country Economist in Kazakhstan and has been working on country economic monitoring, public finance review, and development policy lending.
Prior to joining the Bank, Mr Rahardja worked as a research analyst at International Food and Policy and Research Institute and was a non-resident visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University, Washington DC, and a Master’s degree in regional science from Cornell University, New York. His work interests are macroeconomics and international trade.
