China writes off Rs 450 million Mauritian debt

The Minister of Finance Pravind Jugnauth announced that the People’s Republic of China has written off Mauritius’ debts amounting to Rs 450 million. He welcomed this gesture on behalf of the Chinese government which he said has come at an opportune time where Mauritius is bringing down its public debt as announced in Budget 2016-2017. He further spoke of the positive outcomes of his visit which has culminated into fruitful realisations in view of strengthening both bilateral and economic ties between the two countries.

The other projects include: financing by the Chinese government of a multi-purpose sports complex of Olympic standard at Saint Pierre including a swimming pool of international norm and a stadium to the tune of Rs 1.9 billion in the form of grants and interest-free loan on a Government to Government agreement in the context of the forthcoming 2019 Indian Ocean Island Games to be held in Mauritius; donation of a fleet of 30 semi-floor buses by the Chinese Government; signing of two Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) pertaining to a joint feasibility study on the Mauritius-China Free Trade Agreement to boost trade and investment.

The Joint Economic Commission also evoked the reinforcing of the triangular cooperation involving China-Mauritius-Africa to attract more investors to use Mauritius as platform to tap the African continent. During his visit, the Finance Minister met several Ministers with whom he discussed about strengthening commercial exchanges between Mauritius and China as well as the technical and financial assistance provided so far by the Chinese Government for various infrastructure projects in addition to boosting exports to China.

Pravind Jugnauth met representatives of business conglomerates such as the Jinfei Group to discuss about the development progress with regards the projects to be undertaken. The Tianli Spinning Company Ltd, which is already operating in Mauritius, has expressed interest to extend its activities and create some 150 job opportunities.