1. Cabinet has taken note of the visit of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu, King of Kwa Zulu Natal to Mauritius from 5 to 9 November, 1999. His Majesty will be accompanied by her Royal Highness the Queen and a delegation.
_______________________________
2. Cabinet has agreed to grant a Regional Development Certificate to a local company namely Sena Development Ltd. for operation in Mozambique. The project comprises the planting of some 11,000 hectares of sugar cane and the rehabilitation of a sugar factory. The factory is expected to produce some 100,000 tons in 2005 when it will be fully operational. The sugar produced will be sold partly on the Mozambican market and partly to neighbouring countries. The company will also provide employment to some 150 skilled and semi-skilled Mauritians.
_______________________________
3. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of a New Sports Bill into the National Assembly to replace the Sports Bill 1998. The main objects of this Bill are to –
(a) repeal and consolidate the law relating to sports in Mauritius;
(b) provide for the better management of Sports Federations;
(c) provide for the creation of new Multisport Organisations;
(d) set up a Mauritius Arbitration Commission for Sports and a Mauritius National Paralympic Committee;
(e) provide for the setting up of Regional Sports Council; and
(f) enable Sports Federations and Multisport Organisations to enforce sanctions against the use of prohibited susbtance.
_______________________________
4. Cabinet has taken note of the objectives defined in the document entitled "Strategy Blueprint for the Non-Sugar Agricultural Sector – 2000/2012" and the proposed follow up action on its recommendations. This document has been worked out by a Task Force set up in December 1998, under the Chairmanship of Professor J. Manrakhan. As recommended in the Blue Print, two National Standing Committees chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources will be set up to look after –
(i) Resources, Investment and Incentives; and
(ii) Regional Co-operation and Markets.
_______________________________
5. Cabinet has taken note that the National Computer Board will organise the Info Tech 99 from 3 to 6 November 1999 in the International Exhibition Centre, Mer Rouge, Port Louis. Info Tech 99 will display a large array of state-of-the-art and emerging technologies in the fields of IT and Telecommunications and create greater awareness of the subject matter among people.
_______________________________
6. Cabinet has approved the grant of 1 Export Enterprise Certificate, 3 Pioneer Status Enterprise Certificates, and 1 Modernisation and Expansion Enterprise Certificate under the Industrial Expansion Act, 1993. Investment will be made inter-alia in the fields of manufacture of garments, decorative plaster profiles and boards, treatment of raw aluminium profiles and the powder coating thereof. One of the Pioneer Certificate relates to the installation and operation of an integrated IT system and communications technology network. The Modernisation and Expansion Enterprise Certificate relates to the modernisation and expansion of the Mauritius Breweries Ltd. with a view to increasing its export capacity.
The implementation of these projects would create some 70 job opportunities and would entail investment amounting to around Rs 207 million.
_______________________________
7. Cabinet has agreed to the University of Mauritius granting one scholarship in favour of a student from the Maldives Island. This decision follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministries of Education of Mauritius and Maldives in June this year.
_______________________________
8. Cabinet has agreed to amend the qualification requirements for entry grades in the Public Service so as to enable applicants who do not possess a credit in English Language at the Cambridge School Certificate level but hold a pass in General Paper at HSC level together with passes in at least two subjects at ‘Principal Level’ and one subject at ‘subsidiary level’, to be eligible for consideration. This measure will enable a greater number of school leavers to have access to employment opportunities.
_______________________________
9. Cabinet has agreed that Sunday 14 November 1999 be observed as a Day of Remembrance for the two World Wars. As in the past, a solemn ceremony will he held at the War Memorial in Curepipe in memory of those who lost their lives in the two World Wars. A similar ceremony will be held in Rodrigues.
_______________________________
10. Cabinet has agreed to a proposal submitted by the Mauritius Ex-Servicemen Association on behalf of the Royal British Legion to observe two minutes’ silence at the eleventh hour on 11 November 1999, in the context of the Global Millennium Silence. It will be in the memory of soldiers, sailors and airmen and women who lost their lives during the two World Wars.
_______________________________
11. Cabinet has been apprised of the outcome of the informal meeting which the ACP Ministerial Negotiating Troika on Trade had with their EU counterparts on 19 October 1999 in Brussels and which Dr the Hon. A. Boolell attended, as the ACP Ministerial Spokesman on Trade.
_______________________________
12. Cabinet was apprised of the outcome of the Fifth Session of the Sino-Mauritius Joint Commission held in Port Louis between 19 and 21 October, 1999.
In addition to the loan of RMB 100 million Yuan (Rs 300 million) for the housing project agreed in August 1999, the Chinese delegation agreed, in principle, to the co-financing of the Plaines Wilhems Sewerage Reticulation Network, and the opening of a Line of Credit for the purchase of equipment from China. These two requests are now being examined by the Export and Import Bank of China. The Chinese authorities have also made available a grant of RMB 5 million Yuan (Rs 15 million) to Mauritius.
Private sector representatives of the Chinese delegation had fruitful discussions with their Mauritian counterparts with a view to utilising our freeport for export on the African continent, and to establishing joint ventures for investment in Africa.
The Sixth Session of the Sino-Mauritian Joint Commission will be held in Beijing.
_______________________________
13. Cabinet has been apprised of the outcome of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Cross Border Initiative (CBI) for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, which was held in Mauritius on 18 and 19 October, 1999 at Grand Baie International Conference Centre. The Mauritian delegation to the meeting was led by Hon. R. Bheenick. The purpose of the meeting was to review progress of the CBI reform agenda in policy areas of trade liberalisation and facilitation, investment regulation, exchange systems, banking and payment systems.
_______________________________
14. Cabinet has taken note of arrangements being made for the celebration of the 32nd Anniversary of the Independence of Mauritius and the 8th Anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius in the year 2000. In this connection, a Ministerial Committee as well as a Committee of Officials under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Arts and Culture have been set up to look into the activities to be organised, the venue and the theme of the celebration.
_______________________________
15. Cabinet has been apprised of the outcome of the participation of the Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology in the Telecom 99 and Interactive 99, the 8th World Telecoms event organised by the International Telecommunications Union, in Geneva from 9 to 17 October, 1999.
_______________________________
16. Cabinet has taken note that the Divali Festival will be celebrated at National level at the Lady Sushil Ramgoolam State Secondary School, Triolet, on Saturday 6 November 1999. Soci-cultural activities will be organised to mark that event.
_______________________________
17. Cabinet has decided that the road from Rose Hill leading to the University of Mauritius (old Moka Road) be named after late Julius Nyerere, former President of Tanzania.
_______________________________