Dear Members,
The Chinese Business Chamber was honoured to be invited to Beijing, China on 2 to 4 November 2016 as part of the delegation representing the Private Sector, accompanying the Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth. The purpose of the visit of the Finance Minister was to discuss the China-Mauritius bilateral Cooperation Programme.
Our delegation consisted of 5 members, namely: President Lee Meng How Onsiong, Vice-President Antoine Kon-Kam King, Board Member James Ho Fong, members Shing Tai Cheung and Eric Teng Hin Voon. The Chairman of MCCI, the Chairman of SBM and other prominent businessmen were also present.
The CBC delegation was delighted to attend meetings with the China-Africa Development Fund, the China Council for International Trade (CCIPT) and the China-Africa Development Forum of the Ministry of Commerce. There was an exchange of information session held between the relevant parties whereby the Mauritian counterparts gave details to their correspondents on the business environment and opportunities available in Mauritius and in exchange explored how they could assist in promoting trade and investments in Mauritius.
On another day, a business Forum was jointly organised by the Board of Investment of Mauritius (BOI) and the China-Africa Development Fund (CADF). This was very well attended with over 150 participants. The Forum was opened by the President of CADF and addressed by Honorable Pravind Jugnauth, Ken Poonoosamy, the MD of BOI and closed by HE Mr. Andre Lee Hon Chong, Ambassador of Mauritius in Beijing. A great promotional movie on “Investment Opportunities in Mauritius” was also projected and received positive response.
In addition, an MOU between the BOI and the Bureau of Commerce of Qingdao Municipal Government was signed.
There was tremendous interest from Chinese companies and potential investors, including Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Telecom, several construction companies, Equity investment funds to name a few. The list of companies present at the event will be circulated to our members once the list is duly received.
We also had opportunities to network with the delegation of the Ministry of Finance. The successful outcome of the bilateral negotiations has already been widely disseminated in the press, locally and internationally. The highlights of this visit to China are namely a new international standard stadium for the Jeux des Iles and the writing off of Rs 500M of debt for Mauritius.
We encourage our members to participate in our next CBC Business Trip to China, which will be held in mid-February (TBC).
