Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Apr 01, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Apr 01, 2005 |
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Industry & Economy
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Foreign Trade Free trade pact with Mauritius being readied K. Venugopal
Port Louis , March 31 A FREE trade agreement with Mauritius is on the cards. A joint study group had recommended the agreement and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and his counterpart, Mr Paul Berenger, on Thursday accepted the suggestion and set up another team to negotiate the terms. In his address to the Mauritius National Assembly, Dr Singh said that the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement, which the free trade agreement would anchor, would turn a new leaf in the bilateral relationship. He praised Mauritius for its robust growth, an average of 5-6 per cent over the past decade, which was helped by the remarkable performance of the textile, sugar and tourism sectors. But he warned that the winds of change were blowing and globalisation posed challenges even as it presented opportunities to both countries. He noted that Mauritius had begun to reinvent itself, by nurturing new skills and diversifying into high, value-added products and services including information technology. The IT complex he would inaugurate on Friday was built with Indian line of credit. It was an example of what the two countries could do together, he said. Helped by low domestic taxes and a double taxation agreement with India, Mauritius is the largest source of foreign direct investment into India. It would like India to continue with the double taxation cover, but the thinking in New Delhi is that it may be time to take a re-look at it. The arrangement was brought in at a time when India badly needed foreign investment; those conditions have changed and the proposed comprehensive economic cooperation agreements with Sri Lanka and Singapore do not feature such a concession, sources said.
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