Support to the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the implementation of an Accelerated Technology Transfer Platform
Mr Marday VENKATASAMY, President of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry
His Excellency, Mr Emmanuel COHET, Ambassador, Republic of France
Members of the Press
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to address you today, at this Press Conference for the official launching of the 'European Union support to the MCCI in the implementation of an Accelerated Technology Transfer Platform'.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The European Union attaches great importance to its partnership with the Republic of Mauritius. The opportunities offered under the Economic Partnership Agreement is a testimony of the continued, strong, commitment of the European Union to support Mauritius, including the private sector, in achieving the goals set under Vision 2030.
The private sector plays an important role in the economic development and prosperity of Mauritius.
Private sector development plays a key role in creating economic growth, employment and improved living conditions as it incentivises investing in education and skills; improves access to goods and services; enables governments in to generate increased tax revenues, hence funding wider development strategies; encourages diversification of the economy.
This project will assist the MCCI in improving the knowledge and expertise on Intellectual Property Rights and its benefits as well as encourage technology transfer agreements between Mauritian and EU companies through its Accelerated Technology Transfer Platform.
This project will therefore aim to foster the creation of new industries and assist industries' efforts to strengthen their competitiveness.
The Accelerated Technology Transfer Platform will hence act as the gateway for Mauritian entrepreneurs to access Technology from abroad through Technology Transfer Agreements, as well as commercialisation of their own Intellectual Property assets.
The Intellectual Property help desk will provide advice and technical expertise to businesses in the field of Intellectual Property and Innovation, including its generation, protection and the commercialisation of Intellectual Property assets.
In this project, a lot of importance has been given to Capacity Building.
One of the main tasks of the team of experts who will be working with the MCCI during the coming months, will be to provide the appropriate training to professionals who will be directly concerned with the Technology Transfer Linkages, to ensure that these professionals have the right level of knowledge.
This is not a one-off initiative, as under the Economic Partnership Agreements, the EU is supporting Mauritius in improving the business and investment climate in order to develop transparent investment regulatory framework which will attract and enhance investments and private sector development.
In this regard, EU support to setting up the National Electronic Licencing System (NELS) in area of business permits will make an important contribution towards reducing the hurdles in the ease of Doing Business. It will help improving predictability and reduce uncertainty in the investment decision-making process.
Innovation, and Research and Development are essential for the economic development of Mauritius. It is widely recognised that the most advanced economies are heavily reliant on innovation to drive long-term economic growth.
This project will contribute to Innovation, Research and Development in Mauritius, by linking EU chambers and the MCCI and in making Mauritius a reference point, in the field of Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology, in the Indian Ocean.
With this new support, we reaffirm that the EU remains a strong and reliable partner of the Republic of Mauritius and that the private sector plays a key role in the country and will remain a key stakeholder and a crucial partner for the European Union.
I wish for a fruitful collaboration between the European Union, the MCCI and the Expert team, to make this project a success.
I thank you for the attention.