. Cabinet has taken note of the achievements of the two Mauritian athletes, namely Eric Milazar and Stephan Buckland, in the 8th World Athletic Championship and decided that -
(a) a cash reward of Rs 100,000 be granted to each of them;
(b) a “National Trust Fund for Excellence in Sports” be set up to assist and reward high level athletes and the Government’s contribution to the Fund be to the tune of Rs 1m;
(c) Mr Michael Glover, former Minister of Youth and Sports, be designated Chairman of the Fund; and
(d) a Committee be set up under the chairmanship of the Minister of Youth and Sports to organise a warm welcome for the athletes.
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2. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius making an offer to host the seat of the regional Office of the Centre for the Development of Enterprises (CDE) which support the implementation of private sector development strategies in ACP countries.
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3. Cabinet has taken note of the draft World Hindi Secretariat Bill which provides for the establishment and management of the World Hindi Secretariat in Mauritius and has agreed to the Indian Authorities being consulted thereon.
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4. Cabinet has agreed, in principle, to the Programme of Visit of Shri L.K. Advani, Home Minister of the Republic of India, from 1 to 3 October 2001 in the context of the celebrations marking the hundredth anniversary of the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi in Mauritius.
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5. Cabinet has agreed to the holding of the Sub-Regional Award Conference for East Africa and Indian Ocean Countries from 7 to 10 September 2001 at the Gold Crest Hotel. The Conference aims at decentralising the activities and responsibilities of the Award Secretariat for better utilization of resources and for the Award Programme to reach more young people.
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6. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of –
(i) the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to Pretoria, South Africa, where he attended the Meeting of the Committee of the SADC Ministers responsible for Finance and Investment held on 31 July 2001;
(ii) the Minister of Industry, Commerce and International Trade to Egypt where he -
(a) attended the Special Meeting of COMESA Trade Ministers on the preparation for the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Doha, Qatar in November; and
(b) had discussions with the Egyptian Authorities on bilateral trade issues;
(iii) the Minister of Women’s Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare to Rodrigues, where she opened a seminar on Micro-Enterprise and Poverty Alleviation, visited the Family Counselling Service and the newly set-up micro-enterprises financed under the IFAD programme and met fisherwomen of Gravier and representatives of women’s associations.
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7. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Technical School Management Trust Fund Board for years 2001/2003 under the chairmanship of Dr Harry Newton Phoolchund.
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8. Cabinet has taken note of the status of the Rural Diversification Programme financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) which comprises, inter alia, Irrigated Agriculture Development, Development of Fish Aggregating Device, Micro-Enterprises and Micro-Finance Development and Community Development in Mauritius and in Rodrigues.
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