If there is one thing we Mauritian excel at is the holding of all manner of seminars, symposiums and conferences. Usually, there is a lot of talk among like minded people followed by self-congratulations of their successes and then? nothing.

The first simposium on the Mauritian diaspora was held at the University of Mauritius recently. The seeds of the idea of holding this event was first sown about a year ago by Father Jocelyn Grégoire with a few other people joing in later. The central aim of the gathering was to define a role for expatriates: ?That of a Mauritiuan diaspora at the service of its country.? Coincidentally, this was one of the themes of Finance minister Sithanen?s budget last month.

Of course, as with the other symposiums, there was a whole week of talking amongst what would appear to be no more than a meeting of 200 friends and acquaintances: we usually find more attendees at a modest local wedding! Of the 150,000 expatriates of Mauritius origin living on almost every continent of the globe, a mere 100 bothered to turn up. A glorious 0.60 %! Perhaps, the event was not well advertised or the timing was not suitable. But when, we think of the hundreds-if not thousands-of-experts who holiday here every year, one would have expected a larger number attending.

So what is it that kept them away? First, there is the stigma and hurt of having been perceived as traitors in the past ? ?rats leaving the sinking ship?. Secondly, apart from a vague expression of platitudes in the last couple of years, there is nothing specific being done by the authorities to attract, such as an appropropriate fiscal inducement. Thirdly, as I wrote in a an article some twenty years ago, there simply has been too much neglect again by the authorities, not to say a local lack of interest in and disregard for expats in equal measure.

Sadly, this attitude was once more apparent at the symposium itself. Without distracting anything from the genial minister for Tourism, Mr Xavier-Luc Duval who was the Government representative, the authorities have once again demonstrated the true esteem they hold for experts. For events of far lesser importance such as the visit of an Indian ascetic, bigger guns have been known to be deployed. To my mind, it would have been more appropriate for an event as important as this special first gathering of the diaspora to be graced by either the President of the Republic or the prime minister. In fact, why not both? That would have given a strong signal to all those absentees that we really mean business.

But, nit disperandum, all is not quite lost if we take the proper action even at this late hour. To this end, the reader will forgive me if I quote from the above mentioned article for it seems as relevant today as it was twenty years ago. ?But a start can be made now? before time runs out. Mauritius maintains very expensive embassies and, with a little imagination, these can be mobilised to bring back the expatriate, from his beautiful wilderness. Through them, contact can maintained with their children for whom, otherwise, Mauritius will simply remain a far-off island their parents came from.?

If we are serious in our desire to attract expats to invest in Mauritius as well as encouraging their children to do so, we must be earnest in our endeavour to make them feel welcome.

If we make a start now, I am pretty confident that the next ?Pas Bliye Nu Rasinn? would be a resounding success and do proper justice to Father Gregoire?s excellent initiative and hard work.

<B>Toro Del Fuego</B>