The first session of the India-Mauritius High-Powered Joint Trade Committee was hosted between August 1-3 in New Delhi that was co-chaired by the Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India Dr. Srikar K Reddy and Director, Trade Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Narainduth Boodhoo alongside several Government representatives from both countries.
Under the mandate of the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA), the High-Powered Joint Trade Committee has been constituted to oversee the general functioning and implementation of the India-Mauritius CEPCA implemented on April 1 where it is for the first time that such an agreement was signed with an African nation.
It has been remarked that both sides took note of the traditionally close, strong economic ties reached a high with the signing of the landmark CEPCA where the growth of the bilateral merchandise trade between India and Mauritius spurred to USD 786.72 million in 2021-22 as compared to USD 690.02 million in 2019-20. Both sides reached an agreement pertaining to an enhanced bilateral collaboration to step up trade while simultaneously recognizing the true potential of such a relationship under CEPCA.
An agreement was also reached pertaining to the General Economic Cooperation (GEC) Chapter and Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism (ATSM) under CEPCA where the GEC chapter helps to enable the enhancement of export competitiveness and help broaden the existing scope for collaboration across varied fields such as Financial Services, Textile, SMEs, Handicrafts, , ICT, Film Production, Space Technology, Blue Economy, Port Infrastructure, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Competition Policy, and Renewable Energy, among others
There have been extensive interactions between the Indian and Mauritius side across the services sector pertaining to setting up equivalence in certification, skills, and licensing requirements of various professional bodies and exploring collaboration/ cooperation arrangements between the Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship and its Mauritius counterpart on the need to develop skills set.
In the same vein, discussion hovered on the crunch of professionals in Mauritius across sectors such as ICT, Financial Services, Film production, Engineering, Health, Tourism/Hospitality, and Ocean Economy, among others where such high skills professionals’ movement from India to Mauritius is welcome. Moreover, both also expressed a willingness to reach a Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement (CMMA) where discussions will take place soon.
Affirming mutual keenness in diversifying and expanding the trade basket, the two sides discussed additional market access issues while agreeing to discuss bilateral recognition arrangements of equivalence on SPS and TBT measures. Both sides also agreed to identify bilateral focal points to strengthen bilateral institutional cooperation further.
Discussions on the first session of the India-Mauritius High-Powered Joint Trade Committee were defined as forward-looking in reflecting of a common desire for both sides to deepen trade and investment while removing any bottlenecks hampering bilateral trade and investment. The next session of the India- Mauritius High Powered JTC is slated to take place in 2023.
