Pre-budget consultations continued over the past week. Finance and Economic Development Minister Renganaden Padayachy listened to his fellow government ministers.
Financial Services and Good Governance Minister Mahen Seeruttun said that after the country’s removal from the European Union’s blacklist and the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list, the ministry is now working to reposition Mauritius on the international landscape as an attractive investment destination.
Furthermore, the Minister stressed that his Ministry is implementing the Financial Sector Master Plan with the aim of doubling its contribution to the country’s GDP over the next ten years.
After his meeting with Dr. Padayachy, Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives Soomilduth Bholah said that the proposals submitted were aligned with the objective of economic recovery and aimed at providing the required assistance to industries, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as well as cooperatives. He emphasized that the various suggestions addressed the necessary ingredients for economic recovery.
The minister said that while financial support is available through institutions such as the Mauritius Industrial Finance Cooperation, the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd. and commercial banks, viable project plans are essential.
Minister of Finance and Economic Development Renganaden Padayachy met with the Attorney General and Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security Maneesh Gobin. The latter stressed that to ensure food security, he recalled that the country depends on imports for many products, including fertilizers that are used for local food production. We must therefore reconsider our import strategy and tap into our capacity to produce our own fertilizer locally,” he said.
Maneesh Gobin spoke of the need to switch to alternative fertilizers and said he proposed the development of special schemes for local fertilizer production. He emphasized the relevance of the Zero Budget Natural Farming program to stimulate local production of alternatives.
The Minister also pointed out that he had discussed with the Minister of Finance his intention to promote the production of ‘superfood’ for local consumption and export.
Another topic discussed at the meeting was the review of the freight capacity program following the surge in freight prices and the need for collaboration between the various ministries involved to this end.
As part of the pre-budget consultations, the Chief Financial Officer also met with the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Kavydass (Kavi) Ramano. One of the measures advocated by Kavi Ramano in the context of the upcoming budget, concerns the implementation of the action plan to fight against coastal erosion resulting from the impact of climate change.
According to Kavi Ramano, efforts should focus on waste segregation at the source, as well as the operation of composting plants and regional sorting units. These would require, he said, the provision of garbage cans to the population to encourage the sorting of household waste; acquisition of appropriate vehicles by local authorities for the collection and transportation of sorted waste and a review of the operations of transfer stations and landfills.
Following the meeting with the Chief Minister, the Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Darsanand Balgobin, said he discussed with Dr. Renganaden Padayachy the key projects regarding his priority to continue the process of digitization of government services and implement all ICT projects to improve the lives of all citizens. He dwelt on the ongoing projects including E-Health, Cashless Bus Service and E-Social Security.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Renganaden Padayachy, also met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Higher Education and Science and Technology, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun. After the meeting, the VPM said she discussed various projects that her ministry has developed for all sectors and added that the budgetary funds will allow their realization. One of the main projects, she said, is to further exploit the use of technology in the education system with new initiatives such as blended learning in schools on a pilot basis.
The VPM also spoke of the importance of providing technical training and stressed that a range of new fields of study to meet the needs of the workforce in the pharmaceutical and blue economy sectors, in line with national plans, will be offered.
