1.Cabinet has taken note of the creation of a Fonds de Solidarité pour le Peuple Irakien under the responsibility of the Supervising Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation.
_______________________________
2.Cabinet has agreed to the 22 Rodriguan Public Officers who were working in Ministries in Mauritius over the past years, being permanently transferred to the Mauritian establishment.
_______________________________
3.Cabinet has taken note of the recommendations made by Halcrow Group Ltd. in its report on the National Development Strategy for Mauritius. Major strategic projects include proposals for conurbation-wide development which will involve cross-boundary collaboration.
_______________________________
4.Cabinet has taken note that, during the forthcoming visit of the Chief Minister of the State of Andhra Pradesh, a Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism will be signed between the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure and the State of Andhra Pradesh and another on Education and Information and Communication Technologies jointly by the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications.
_______________________________
5.Cabinet has agreed to the management and day-to-day running of Shelters for Women and Children in Distress being entrusted to a Non-Governmental Organisation by way of a management contract to be awarded through a bidding process.
_______________________________
6.Cabinet has agreed to the liberalisation of the price of aerated beverages, bottled water, beer and stout as from 1 April 2003. It is recalled that control of prices was exercised on these products shortly before the General Elections of September 2000.
_______________________________
7.Cabinet has taken note of the fixtures of race meetings for the year 2003. The racing season is scheduled to start on 3 May 2003 with "The Duchess of York Cup" and end with the International Jockey's Day on 7 December.
_______________________________
8.Cabinet has taken note of the establishment of an Indo-Mauritian Joint Committee for Cooperation in the Field of Ocean Science and Technology in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries. The Joint Committee will be co-chaired by Mr Harry Ganoo, Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service and Chairman of the Mauritius Oceanography Institute and Mr H. Gupta, Secretary of the Indian Department of Ocean Development.
_______________________________
9.Cabinet has taken note of the constitution of -
(a) the Board of Trustees of the Lois Lagesse Trust Fund under the Chairmanship of Mr Abbas Mamode Mohamad Salim; and
(b) the Malcolm de Chazal Trust Fund Board with Mrs Liliane Berthelot as Chairperson.
_______________________________
10.Cabinet taken note of developments regarding the Government Online Centre Project.
_______________________________
11.Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of -
(a) the Prime Minister to Rodrigues where he witnessed damages caused by cyclone Kalunde;
(b) the Minister of Tourism and Leisure to Paris and Berlin where he participated in international tourism fairs;
(c) the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation to -
(i) the Republic of Sudan where he attended meetings of the policy organs of COMESA; and
(ii) Zimbabwe where he had discussions with the authorities concerned concerning Mauritian farmers there;
(d) the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice & Human Rights to Zambia where he attended the Seventh Meeting of COMESA Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General; and
(e) the Minister of Youth and Sports to Beirut, Lebanon where he participated in the 29th Session of the Ministers' Meeting of the Conference des Ministres de la Jeunesse et des Sports des Pays ayant le Français en Partage.
______________________________