The three-day visit of the Malagasy president to Mauritius was an occasion for strengthening relationships between the two countries. Although no real commitment has been made, this visit helped Madagascar show that its economic situation is far better and that Mauritian investors should not be afraid of setting up businesses there.

Marc Ravalomanana insisted on the endeavours of Madagascar to attract Mauritian investors. The new regulations aimed at facilitating land purchase are part of these efforts. Some lands have indeed been reserved for tourist development and others for industrial development. He also made it clear that a lot of serious partners in Madagascar are waiting eagerly for offers of joint ventures from Mauritian operators. The Malagasy president also highlighted the fact that the Malagasy authorities have seriously tried to reduce customs clearance procedures at its ports and airports, as many Mauritians had some problems recently.

<B>Partnership in hospitality training</B>

After close collaboration in the textile sector, the countries are now thinking of other avenues of cooperation. Agriculture, tourism and the seafood hub are among the possibilities mentioned. In fact, both parties have initialled bilateral agreements in the fields of technical cooperation in agriculture, the fight against drug trafficking; a memorandum of understanding on trade and training in tourism.

The Malagasy minister of Agriculture, Harison Randriarimana, made it clear that Madagascar was in favour of further economic cooperation between the two countries. The import of a small cargo of potatoes should lead the way to the import of more agricultural products by Mauritius. “We should not be satisfied with friendly and historical relations but we should go towards economic relations,” he pointed out. This is why the agricultural agreement signed states health norms to facilitate exports of agricultural products between the two countries.

Madagascar thinks that Mauritius has a lot to offer in terms of training and expertise in tourism. The cooperation agreement that covers training in hospitality should help but Madagascar expects even more from such a partnership. “I will ask Malagasy operators to come to Mauritius soon to see how you’ve achieved such success,” the president declared before leaving last Tuesday.

Now that there have been exchanges to reinforce the relations between the countries, regional integration should be easier. “We share the same policy of regional integration. Now we must extend regional cooperation and include India, China and the countries of South-East Asia to give it a new boost,” Navin Ramgoolam declared.