The Mauritian delegation must be coming back from Brussels full of hope. Even if the European Union (EU) has not given any concrete financial aid yet, the prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, and the minister of Finance, Rama Sithanen, managed to make the European commissioners understand the country’s urgent needs for grants to implement the budget measures. The first edition of the European Development Days – aimed at boosting relationships between Europe and Africa – was an opportunity for small countries to make their voices heard.

The prime minister, addressing the plenary session on the last day of the forum (Friday), spoke of the government’s commitment to abide by good governance in Mauritius. The second part of the 10th European Development Fund depends upon the country’s capacity to abide by good governance and the country does not miss any opportunity of reminding the Europeans of their good intentions. The recent visit of the head of the European Union (EU) delegation, Claudia Wiedley-Nippold, was one more occasion for the Finance minister to show he means business. The forum was the jewel in the crown…

The Mauritian representatives were congratulated by EU commissioners José Manuel Barroso and Louis Michel for their “courage to take appropriate decisions”. However, the two ministers insisted that no reform would be implemented without EU financial support. Europe could indeed offer its help in various ways besides the 10th European Development Fund.

Navin Ramgoolam and Rama Sithanen both made a plea for “Aid for Trade” to become a reality for Mauritius soon. “Aid should not be restricted to trade only. We should go beyond technical assistance. The concept will have to include issues of export and trade finance for instance”, commented the latter. The chairman of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, made it clear that the commission has voted a budget of Rs 86 billion for this item. “Mauritius is just the type of country that can benefit from the European Fund for Aid for Trade.”

The Mauritian delegation also seized the opportunity to discuss the accompanying measures of the sugar reform – the 36% drop in export prices. Mauritius has always found it unfair that it obtained only 15% of the global aid of the African-Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries while it supplies up to 38% of the quota. So, the minister continued his “lobbying for a better budget”.

Despite the determination of the delegation and the good intentions of the Europeans, only time will tell if this mission has been really fruitful. As minister Sithanen pointed out, “we hope to obtain a response in a very short time by the end of the first quarter of 2007”. The sooner Mauritius obtains these badly needed grants, the more chances it will have of looking forward to a brighter future.