A working session aiming to assess the agricultural sector and its potential for new high value-added activities was held, this afternoon, between the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, and the World Bank (WB) Country Director for Mauritius, Mrs Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough, in Port Louis.
Representatives from the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority and Officers from the Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security were present at the event. After the session, the WB Country Director for Mauritius paid a courtesy call on the Mr Gobin at his office.
In a statement after the meeting, Mrs Pswarayi-Riddihough highlighted that this was her first visit to Mauritius, even though the Bank had a very long working relationship with the Ministry of Agro-Industry. “This visit,” she underlined, “was very important to understand what we have been working on together but also to plan what are the strategies in terms of working towards the next level of consultation and collaboration.”
She indicated that discussions with the Minister focused on the Country Partnership Framework which was under preparation. “This framework would be a really good opportunity to ensure a good grasp of what the Government would like to do so that we can support them as much as we can from the side of the World Bank,” she added.
In addition, she underscored that they had a look at some of the work that was done previously and also talked on issues such as climate change and biomass. “We also discussed about other options that could come out of previous sugar lands that are lying idle and how to identify and deepen the work that we could do going forward through continued conversation and collaboration,” she pointed out.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of Mauritius.
