Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the leading Government agency mandated to provide strong institutional support to promote trade and investments in Mauritius, the Economic Development Board, working collaboratively with my Ministry and our diplomatic missions in Africa, has organised and participated in several trade missions in Africa since November 2025 to date. I am therefore informed by the EDB that between November 2025 and April 2026, four major trade missions and road shows were undertaken as follows – (i) Africa Tech in November 2025, where the EDB participated in the Africa Tech Festival 2025, which was held from 11 to 13 November 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. That event had enabled fruitful discussions with many stakeholders including tech operators from the United States. I am informed that some US firms are already in an advanced stage of incorporating their activities in the tech sector in Mauritius. (ii) Multi-cluster road show in South Africa, a high-level delegation of 26 companies from Mauritius undertook a business prospection mission in Cape Town and Joburg from 26 to 30 January 2026. This mission which was supported by our High Commission in Pretoria, has already yielded Rs45 million in immediate orders with a further Rs440 million worth of orders currently under negotiation. 20 investment leads were identified with potential investment and trade structures estimated at 10 million USD, focused, inter alia, in the mining sector, commodity trading and freeport services. In the margins of that road show, our High Commission in Pretoria has also established contacts with representatives of the First National Bank who manifested an interest in promoting Mauritius as preferred investment destination for their high-profile clients. (iii) Joint education fair in Zambia and Zimbabwe in February 2026. So, the EDB and the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science and Research organised a joint education fair in February 2026 in Lusaka to create awareness about the educational opportunities available in Mauritius, particularly for students from Zambia and Zimbabwe. The education fair generated great interest on the part of students from those two countries and successfully registered some 409 on the spot applications for seats at Mauritian universities. (iv) The ICT Road show in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia in March 2026. So, an ICT services road show for Zambia, Botswana and Namibia was organised by the EDB in March 2026 in Zambia, targeting ICT operators in those three countries. The aim was to promote business growth and export of services opportunities in the ICT sector and strengthen collaboration between Mauritius and the Government, industry, startups, SMEs and African partners in those countries. The road show successfully established high-level institutional links and paved the way for several Memoranda of Understanding with regional investment promotion agencies. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government continues to monitor the outcomes of those trade missions to ensure that such commercial efforts translate into tangible economic growth for the sustainable diversifications of our exports. In addition to those specific trade missions pursued by the EDB in collaboration with my Ministry and other Ministries, Government is committed to broaden and diversify our investment space and encourage Mauritian businesses to integrate the regional supply chains in targeted sectors such as agro-processing, textiles and ICT. My Ministry closely follows the evolution of trade within the existing trade blocks. We participate in ongoing trade negotiations; address implementation challenges including non- tariff barriers and make proposals, when necessary, with a view to improving regional trade. In this regard, Mauritius is actively participating in the various meetings of the AU with a view to implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area. At the sub-regional level, Mauritius trades within the SADC and COMESA free trade areas which have followed an upward trajectory reflecting the country's ability to effectively leverage the provisional trade access provided under those agreements. Thank you.

The hon. First Member for Montagne Blanche and Grand River South East! ADOPTION BILL – PROPOSED INTRODUCTION