ANI
23 Feb 2021, 01:18 GMT+10
Port Louis [Mauritius], February 22 (ANI): India and Mauritius on Monday signed free trade agreement along with five key pacts. This is the first such agreement with an African country.
The agreement was signed during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the island nation.
Jaishankar, who addressed the media with the Prime Minister of Mauritius, said India is privileged to have entered the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) with Mauritius.
"This Agreement is India's first-such Agreement with an African country as noted by the Prime Minister. It will provide a timely boost for the revival of our post-COVID economies and also enable Indian investors to use Mauritius as a launch-pad for business expansion into continental Africa helping the prospect of Mauritius emerging as a 'hub of Africa'," he said.
CECPA will provide preferential access to Mauritius for the bulk of trade and also for many "aspirational items" in future in the Indian market of over a billion people, he said.
These include frozen fish, speciality sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, soaps, bags, medical and surgical equipment, and apparel. Mauritius will get preferential access for the export of 40,000 tonnes of sugar into India at an early time frame.
Similarly, there will also be access for the export of 7.5 million pieces of apparel. As regards trade in services, India has offered 95 sub-sectors from 11 broad services sectors and this contributes 76 per cent of GDP of the island country.
The minister said CECPA will surely boost the dynamism of the services sector in Mauritius.
"The CECPA could also facilitate Indian investment in the services sector in Mauritius, especially in the ICT sector as Indian companies could benefit by leveraging the bilingual prowess of Mauritius for investments in Francophone Africa," Jaishankar said.
India delivered 100,000 doses of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines today. It had supplied 100,000 doses earlier.
India- Mauritius inked another agreement according which India will provide a Dornier aircraft and Advanced Light Helicopter 'Dhruv' on lease to Mauritius on a gratis basis for two years.
An agreement for a special US$ 100 million Defence Line of Credit has was also signed today. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Asia Pacific Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Asia Pacific Star.
More InformationThe February meeting of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Defense Ministers, the first since President Biden took power, revealed an ...
Stories about vaccine hesitancy in various communities described as Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) have led public figures to ...
New Delhi [India], March 1 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister for Foreign Affairs of New Zealand Nanaia ...
New Delhi [India], March 1 (ANI/NewsVoir):DigiBankASIA, the visionary financial services company headquartered in Singapore, and Xebia, a global leader in ...
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 1 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices traded firm on Monday due to upbeat sentiment in global markets ...
By Lee Kah WhyeSingapore, March 1 (ANI): When Myanmar's military seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other ...
NEW YORK, New York: Oil prices took a beating on Friday, as the U.S. dollar strengthened, while the crude supply ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia were sharply higher on Monday, while profit-taking trimmed recent gains in the U.S. ...
FREMONT, California: After a two-day shutdown due to parts shortages, Tesla's Fremont, California plant reopened on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer ...
WASHINGTON, DC: Joining other major U.S. retailers who have announced a hike in minimum wage for employees, Costco has said ...
TYLER, Texas: A federal judge on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional regulations preventing landlords from evicting residential tenants. The regulations ...
BOSTON, Massachusetts: Massachusetts restaurants will no longer be required to limit their seating capacities beginning March 1. Government sources say ...