Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I would like to answer both PQ/937 and PQ/948 together as they relate to artificial intelligence in the Republic of Mauritius, which also includes Rodrigues. So, as we all know, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, AI is transforming every aspect of our society across sectors like health, education, financial services, justice, public administration and social media. While this philosophy, I would say, AI presents significant opportunities to enhance productivity, to improve public service and drive economic growth, it also presents challenges and challenges that are worsening for our society. This includes, as rightly pointed out by the member, the creation of deep fakes, spreading of misinformation, disinformation, mal-information, privacy breaches, identity theft and cyber fraud. These risks may affect all citizens, including every member in this House but particularly children and in a lot of cases, women and elderly people, those who form part of the vulnerable groups. Government has therefore adopted a proactive approach to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a safe, ethical and responsible manner. This is why, in April 2026, my Ministry launched an AI strategy for Mauritius, abbreviated AIM, together with the FAIR guidelines, which constitute the national policy framework for AI governance. The FAIR guidelines are founded on principles like Fairness, Accountability, Inclusiveness and inasmuch as, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we talk about the integrity of people, now we also need to start talking about the integrity of algorithms which constitutes the functionality of AI and Responsibility. While also respecting, and very importantly, the fundamental rights of privacy and freedom of speech and ensuring transparency together with security of data. The implementation of the strategy, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir extends to Rodrigues. So, I will just talk about what we are doing in Rodrigues for a couple of minutes and that pertains to the second question actually. I undertook an official visit to Rodrigues in May 2026, during which, discussions were held with the Commissioner responsible for IT and representatives of the Commission for Education and other officials from Rodrigues Regional Assembly. I am pleased to inform the House and the honourable members representing Rodrigues that there are several collaborative projects that have been discussed. There are several agreements we have come to. The first coordination meeting was held yesterday. There is one major initiative which is around Rodrigues IT FAIR. So, one of the things that we are doing is we have invited two students from Rodrigues to come in and participate in AI workshops so that they can prepare artifacts to be demonstrated during the IT FAIR. One very important element is the establishment of the Computer Emergency Response Team for Rodrigues and an AI Coordination Unit which will work in close collaboration with my Ministry. My Ministry will also provide technical assistance for the deployment of the KOREK app for Rodrigues. So, the moment somebody who is registered as being from Rodrigues logs in, he will see the Rodrigues display in there. So, it will be totally personalised. Coming back to the AI strategy for Mauritius, we have undertaken it through a phased approach. This strategy also provides for a gradual establishment of AI governance mechanisms. The risks that we are facing, we are not the first ones to face it. There are several other countries, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, which have faced it. We know that the UK has gone through the principles-based approach. There is no legislation per se, even though there was the introduction of a Private Member Bill in the Parliament of the UK. But it does not seem like it will be successful. While the European Union has undertaken a risk-based approach. However, in Mauritius, what we have done is – this is what the FAIR guidelines are based on – we have actually taken a principles-based approach with the aim of ultimately giving legislative powers. So, after discussion as well with the hon. Attorney General, we believe that next year, we will be starting to define the AI Act for Mauritius. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, to conclude, I would just like to say that the FAIR guidelines are intended to serve as a foundation for future governance of AI in the Republic of Mauritius, including Rodrigues, obviously, of which, all sectors that operate, whether it is education, trade, banking, financial services, can all build their AI guidelines based on the current guidelines that we have. When we will be deploying and developing the AI legislation, we will do so in coordination and collaboration with all the other regulatory authorities. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Yes, do you have a supplementary?

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir. Can the hon. Minister inform the House what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the necessary regulatory framework and technical expertise are in place before Artificial Intelligence becomes more widely deployed?

Thank you, hon. Member for this supplementary question. AI is already widely deployed in Mauritius.

Just answer the question, please. Do not be vast, please.

Yes, but it is totally linked, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Yes, come straight to the question.

He concluded his question with ‘widely deployed’. Now, the measures that we are taking – (i) we have established the FAIR guidelines. We have as well the plan of giving it legislative powers; (ii) we are running sensitisation campaigns with different sections of the population; (iii) we have also undertaken training for staff within Mauritius for them to come up to speed so that they can actually develop applications and apps as well that are actually in compliance with the FAIR guidelines, and (iv) we are relying as well on the G2G agreement with the Government of India for further advice on how to strengthen it. Thank you.

Ask for a specific question, not for wide answers.

Yes, very specific this one. Can the hon. Minister inform the House as to how is the Government going to engage with international partners to ensure that our approach to Artificial Intelligence regulation is aligned with global practices?

Thank you. So, this one is very specific. To come to the response, when we developed the FAIR guidelines, we actually did it in line with what the SADC Regional Economic Block is envisaging, what COMESA is envisaging, as well as what the African Union is envisaging. So, it is totally aligned. Plus, we had the FAIR guidelines validated by the UNDP as well as the United Nations teams. Therefore, the approach that we have taken is actually based on international best practices.

Thank you. The hon. First Member for Vacoas and Floréal! PRIMARY SCHOOLS’ TEXTBOOKS – PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES & SHORTAGE