The American Chamber of Commerce of Mauritius (AMCHAM Mauritius), in close collaboration with Analysis Kantar announced the publication of the book AMCHAM Mauritius Business Climate Index (ABCI). This strategic index emerges as a reliable barometer, faithfully translating the perceptions of the community business, both within AMCHAM members and companies operating in Mauritius.
The ABCI focuses on crucial pillars such as government policy, tax structures, corruption, and regulatory compliance. It also allows decipher the performance of companies and offers a complete overview of the situation economy of Mauritius. This device offers a clear, multidimensional vision of the levers and business climate challenges, while highlighting the economic health of the nation.
Through the ABCI, AMCHAM Mauritius provides economic operators with a tool relevant to identify and assess the major issues in the business world in Mauritius. It promotes more constructive dialogue with government authorities and stakeholders. The ambition is to work proactively to optimize the climate of business, by aligning Mauritius with international reference standards.
It should be noted that although the ABCI score is slightly below average, this should not be interpreted negatively. Rather, it highlights areas improvement, covering a wide range of themes as well as governance to economic performance.
This index stands as a real indicator for the government and the business world, inviting reflection and the implementation of appropriate strategies. It constitutes a call to action for decision-makers, with a view to responding to current challenges, and strengthening attractiveness of Mauritius as a commercial hub. Mr. Ravin Lama, President of AMCHAM Mauritius, indicated that, “The Climate Index of AMCHAM Mauritius Affairs transcends mere reporting. It embodies commitment unwavering support from our board and partners, dedicated to growing relationships trade between the United States and Mauritius. It is also the fruit of an inspired vision by the Ambassador of the United States to Mauritius, H.E. Mr. Henry Jardine, to whom we let us express our sincere gratitude.”
(Above) Mr. Ravin Lama, President of AMCHAM Mauritius speaking during the event.
For his part, H.E. Mr. Henry Jardine, Ambassador of the United States to Mauritius, welcomed this initiative, welcoming the efforts of AMCHAM Mauritius in favour of better understanding of economic and business issues in Mauritius.
He said, “I think this is a wonderful tool for the Chamber, for the business community here and very much for the US Embassy as well. I think, this is really an example of an important partnership between the US Embassy, the Chamber of Commerce, the business community, but also with the Government of Mauritius. And we do want to work very closely with the government. We had very good constructive engagement. We now have a very tangible, quantifiable tool that we can use to highlight where the opportunities are, where they can demonstrate the opportunities for businesses looking to be looking to establish themselves here, and where there might be some challenges. I think what the index really brings is that kind of clarity. They do give a more accurate perspective of what are the areas of focus that policymakers should consider to address and I will use this as a tool when I speak with policymakers here.”
Citing a recent example, the Ambassador said, “I’ve already had very good constructive conversations with counterparts here about this is an issue and it’s very well recognised. They also helped guide us to the US Embassy, about the approach we can take in supporting the business community. And so for instance, we had been looking at opportunities to partner with the US educational institutions, and see how they could then partner here with institutions that well, so for instance, we were very excited earlier this year, when we had the opportunity for Madison College, which was coming out of Madison, Wisconsin. We just signed an MOU with the University of Technology for issues we have in order to come up with approaches for collaborating either in allowing students to study in the United States or having students from there come here or have exchanges with different professors, faculty, or just a dialogue. So that’s an example of where we at the embassy understand some of the challenges, the articulator identified in this report, and then started looking at how we can make a difference and how we can apply resources, effort and energy to address that.”
Business and trade is a key pillar which plays a vital part in the dynamic of bringing the US and Mauritius together and in finding a common interest – a shared value.
Ambassador Jardine said, “We also do a lot in civil society outreach agency and our work organisations on areas like climate change and education. For instance, we worked closely with the AfDB in supporting a trade delegation to go to South Africa in May. It was a programme to try to bring companies looking at renewable energies to partner or to engage with US companies that were also looking at trying to work here in Mauritius. I felt it was a very good initiative because it started as a dialogue between operations based companies and policy makers, and the United States companies. We are now planning to have a sizable trade delegation coming here in December with companies in the renewable sector financial services sector, biopharmaceutical, so this dialogue is engagement. We’re looking at all these different approaches that we can take off here. In addition, we have a US Trade and Development Agency representative who came out here and did a programme in which he connected with public and private stakeholders to promote opportunities for green technology and financing for green technology. We’re seeing how we can broaden the relationship and what I’m hoping is that this report will then be a baseline. And as we go into the next year, we’ll have a chance to see what areas where their improvement what areas we would see more effort on.”
Mr. Mohamed Mouratsing, CEO of Analysis Kantar Indian Ocean, emphasized “We are honored by our collaboration with AMCHAM Mauritius on the design of the ABCI. We are convinced of the crucial importance of an in-depth analysis of the business climate to guide strategic decisions. The ABCI, with our proven methodologies and our analytical expertise, proves to be an invaluable instrument, offering insight relevant to the Mauritian economic dynamics. We have every confidence in his ability to effectively direct strategies towards an economically flourishing future.”
This report is currently available at the main office of the Chamber of Commerce American, located in Ébène and also on the AMCHAM website, www.amcham mauritius.com.
