Economic Governance and Management Chapter 4 cent of the shares while the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), the Mauritius Exporters Association and the JEC hold the remaining 40 per cent. The mandate of the EM is to promote the exports of goods and services and to support the development of enterprises in the industrial and service sectors, excluding tourism and the financial sector. An important activity of the EM is to organise trade fairs. One such fair, Mauritius for Africa, was held in 2007 to enable Mauritian manufacturers to exhibit their products to African importers. 603. 604. The major findings from the questionnaire are that: • • • 226 In addition to promoting exports, Mauritius is interested in investing in African countries in areas like farming, manufacturing and services. Mauritians have invested in the cultivation of potatoes, chicken farming and seafood in Madagascar, a sugar factory in Mozambique, and banks in Madagascar, Mozambique and the Seychelles. The EM is playing a significant role in assisting Mauritian enterprises to penetrate the African market and in providing them with valuable market information and intelligence. Forty-nine per cent of respondents have a favourable opinion of Mauritian enterprises locating in Madagascar and Mozambique. Fifty-two per cent believe Mauritius could play an important role in facilitating trade between Africa and Asia and 54 per cent believe that Mauritius could become an economic hub for the region. ii. Findings of the CRM 605. The section on codes and standards at the beginning of this chapter notes that Mauritius signed the SADC Treaty in August 1995 and the COMESA Treaty in November of the same year. Since then it has signed, ratified and, in some cases, internalised a number of the resulting protocols and agreements of these two institutions. The finding of the CRM is that, on the whole, Mauritius has been diligent in meeting its obligations to these two organisations, except for the provisions on liberalising trade. As the CSAR noted, because of trade deficits with some countries, particularly South Africa and Egypt, Mauritius has resorted to nontrade barriers to limit imports from these countries. Table 4.8 gives data on Mauritius’s trade with the SADC and COMESA. Chapter 4 Economic Governance and Management Table 4.8: Trade between Mauritius, the SADC and the COMESA countries (thousands of Rs) Outstanding debt at the end of June 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 1. Short-term bonds 74,138.3 68,332.5 58,731.8 55,474.9 43,632.6 36,561.4 a. Treasury bills 74,137.9 68,332.5 58,730.8 55,473.9 43,632.6 36,561.4 2. Medium- and long-term bonds 12,274.3 16,669.4 37,852.9 49,354.7 65,035.4 73,274.6 a. Government debt 11,408.0 13,803.1 15,765.0 17,705.8 19,231.3 20,772.7 Source: MOFEE, CSO. Issue Number 767, 5 June 2009, pp 28–29. 606. Table 4.8 shows that Mauritius had substantial trade deficits with the SADC in both 2007 and 2008. In contrast, Mauritius had trade surpluses with COMESA in 2007 and 2008. Imports from the SADC, as a percentage of total imports, were 8.7 per cent in 2007 and 9.4 per cent in 2008, while exports to the SADC during the same years were 8.8 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively. In comparison, imports from COMESA, as a percentage of total imports, were 3.2 per cent in 2007 and 3.1 per cent in 2008. Exports to COMESA, as a percentage of total exports, were 7.3 per cent in 2007 and 7.3 per cent in 2008. Trade between Mauritius and both the SADC and COMESA is therefore rather low, especially in imports from COMESA. 607. Trade between Mauritius and other SADC members is concentrated in two countries: South Africa and Madagascar. Imports from South Africa and Madagascar amounted to 85 per cent and 5 per cent respectively of total imports from the SADC in 2007, while exports to these same two countries were 32 per cent and 63 per cent respectively. Imports from South Africa and Madagascar, as a percentage of imports from the SADC, were 86 per cent and 5 per cent respectively in 2008. Exports to South Africa and Madagascar, as a percentage of all exports to SADC, were 36 per cent and 60 per cent respectively in 2008. 608. Mauritius’s trade with COMESA is more diversified. In 2007, its most important sources of imports from COMESA countries, as a percentage of total imports, were the Seychelles at 30 per cent, Egypt at 22 per cent, Madagascar at 14 per cent, Kenya at 11 per cent, Zambia at 10 per cent and Swaziland at 8 per cent. Imports from these same countries, in 2008, were 14 per cent, 24 per cent, 16 per cent, 26 per 227