The Economic Development Board of Mauritius (EDB) and the Egyptian African Businessmen’s Association (EABA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote new avenues of economic cooperation between the two nations. The virtual ceremony of the MOU signing was held on the 14th of June 2022.
The protocol was signed by Mr. Hemraj Ramnial, CSK, Chairman of the Economic Development Board of Mauritius and by Dr. Yousrey El-Sharkawi, Chairman of the EABA, in the presence of His Excellency Mr. D. Goburdhun, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mauritius in Egypt, Dr. Alya’a Samir Borhan, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Mauritius and Mr. Arvind Radhakrishna, Strategic Advisor at the EDB.
The objective of this MOU is to promote trade and investment as well as facilitate export of services to Egypt and the North and Middle East region.
In his address, Mr. Hemraj Ramnial recalled the fruitful discussions held during the virtual business forum undertaken with the EABA members on the 14th September 2021. The business forum was an opportunity for participants from the manufacturing, financial services, education, outsourcing and BPO, textile and apparel and healthcare sector to enhance the visibility of their products and services. Participants from the private sector in Mauritius comprised of House of Lords, Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank (HSBC), LMA Creations, VITMI, Xceed Customer Care, Juristax, Fit-U Garment, Acu Care, IQ-EQ, Mauritius Sugar Syndicate.
The Chairman of the EDB emphasized that this business forum laid the foundation for the signing of the MOU between the two countries.
“As a member country of COMESA, Egypt is a strategic partner and represents a significant market for the export of our products and for attracting potential foreign investors. We intend to initiate promotional campaigns to consolidate and enhance the visibility of Mauritian products in the African market. Therefore, we would also like to appeal to Egyptian investors to visit our country and discover our various investment and business opportunities”, underlined Mr Ramnial.
For Dr. Yousry El-Sharkawi, the Chairman of the Egyptian African Businessmen’s Association, this MOU further consolidates and reinforces the existing ties between Mauritius and Egypt. He mentioned that Mauritius is strategically located in the African continent and that Egyptian investors can leverage on the geostrategic position of Mauritius to drive investment and business. The Chairman of the EABA further stated that areas of opportunities to do business between the two countries are mostly in the field of energy, maritime transport and emerging sectors such as the pharmaceutical sector, agri-food amongst others.
For Mr. Arvind Radhakrishna, Strategic Advisor at EDB, this MOU between the EDB and EABA establishes a practical framework for cooperation for investment and trade promotion. He expressed his confidence that this cooperation will further strengthen EDB’s market diversification strategy.
With a population of over 100 million, Egypt has the second largest GDP in Africa at $363.1 billion (2020) behind South Africa. It is a diversified economy mostly built on the manufacturing (16%), real estate and construction (17%), wholesale and retail (14%), agricultural, forestry & fishing (11%) and extractive (10%) sectors.
It has to be noted that the export of Mauritius to Egypt increased from Rs 5.69 million in 2020 to Rs 6.96 million in 2021 while the imports of Mauritius from Egypt increased from Rs 1.19 billion in 2020 to Rs 1.36 billion in 2021. As at date, local products exported to Egypt include sugar, mustard flour and semolina, mustard preparations, textile and clothing products, seeds and fruits, accessories for motor vehicles and sports shoes.
