Mauritius’ Socio-Economic Transformation
Mauritius has benefited from substantial socio-economic development with significant economic growth in recent history. From its evolution from a mono-crop economy based on sugar in the early 1970’s, the export-oriented industrialisation process started. The establishment of the Export Processing Zone Scheme encouraged the setting up of labour intensive export-oriented manufacturing enterprises and opened up the economy to benefit from preferential access to the European markets under the Lomé Convention.
Mauritius continues to expand its horizon if you wish to learn more you can read about it in our blog called ‘ Economy’. Just click on the link to find it.
Manufacturing and Tourism Growth
The manufacturing sector established a sound base for sustainable economic development, while tourism became increasingly important, contributing significantly to foreign exchange earnings and employment generation. The diversification strategy in the 1990s focused on modernising traditional economic sectors and creating new areas of growth, paving the way for higher levels of development.
Expansion of Financial Services
To expand the services sector, particularly financial services, Mauritius leveraged the skills and experience of its pool of qualified professionals. Comprehensive legislation related to non-banking offshore business activities was enacted in 1992, followed by legislative and institutional changes to enhance the competitiveness of the Mauritius Financial Services sector. The Mauritius Freeport was established to promote regional trade and position the island as a warehousing, distribution, marketing, and logistics hub in the Indian Ocean.
ICT Development
Successive governments have aimed to make Mauritius a cyber-island, investing massively in infrastructure, human resources, telecommunications, and state-of-the-art office premises. A series of reforms to liberalise the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and IT Enabled Services (ITES) industries have been undertaken to support this goal.
