Marday Venkatasamy, President of Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and leader of Mauritius trade delegation, said here on Wednesday that the purpose of the delegation's visit of Pakistan was to attract Pakistani investors to utilise the recently created facility of duty-free import of third country fabrics and yarn and, after value-addition, re-export to USA.
Speaking at a meeting of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), he said that on last Friday this new facility had been created under which fabrics and yarn can be imported duty-free from a third country into Mauritius and after value-addition it can be re-exported to USA.
Marday noted that this facility offers good opportunity to Pakistan as this country has textile base and it produces very huge quantity of yarn and fabrics. These fabrics and yarn can be imported into Mauritius and after value-addition re-exported to USA.
Units can also be established in joint ventures, he added. He said that Mauritius is a very small country, of only 2,000 sq km area. It has some cultivatable land but mainly depends on imported goods to meet its requirements, like minerals, gas, oil, food etc.
He said that although the country is very small but it is centrally located and the country can be used as springboard for re-exporting goods to nearby countries. Mauritius is not a very small market: the country is a gateway to African countries due to its geographical location, he added.
The MCCI chief said that Mauritius has two regional agreements and Pakistan can utilises both for marketing its products in these regions.
He said that a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) had been signed during the delegation's stay in Islamabad in the presence of Prime Ministers of Pakistan and Mauritius to enhance co-operation between the private sectors of the two countries and it was agreed to set up a joint ministerial working group to boost economic and commercial tries.
Mahmood Cheeroo, Secretary-General of MCCI, said that Mauritius is a very safe country in the region. He said that Mauritius has no seafood industry and added that Pakistan has vast experience in this area and its expertise can be utilised for developing seafood industry and cold storage.
He said, "We are in Pakistan not just to visit and see the country; we are here seek co-operation of business community to increase two-way trade, establish units in joint ventures and have technical co-operation.
He said that Mauritius is also establishing an IT city, and sought assistance in this area. He said that Mauritius has total population of only 1.2 million, out of which 16.6 percent are Muslims, 52 percent Hindus, and 28.3 percent Christians. Official language is English, but Urdu is largely spoken and understood. An Urdu speaking union also exists in Mauritius.
Welcoming the guests , Riaz Ahmed Tata, President of FPCCI, assured the delegation that Pakistan would do its best to enhance the two-way trade and for establishing units in joint venture. He said that besides textiles Pakistan can export food, rice, mangoes etc to Mauritius.
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