> Wish you luck? Can't you see that the whole WTO thing was made to make your island perish?
I tend to agree with your statement. But what can Mauritius do against the WTO? We do not have many choices, isn't it? We can only TRY to be quicker than the others.
On the other hand, Mauritius is stable, relatively rich (or rather not poor) and have a committed (but not yet highly trained) workforce. So, there is still hope. But I agree that it will be difficult.
> Appealing to the slash-dotters here for luck is the wrong way to look since they still think you're "lost in the Blackness" living in a coconut treehouse.
I used a smiley:-) Succeding has nothing to do with luck. It takes dedication and proper "canvassing" to succeed...
Check your facts before saying such uninformed comments. British Emprire land??? You must be joking. Mauritius is independent since 1968 and we are closer culturally and somewhat economically to France. Have you ever come to Mauritius???
I am Mauritian, living and working in Mauritius right now.
Mauritius is a small (about 1400 km2) tropical island not very far from Madagascar. Mauritius became independent in 1968, is a republic since 1991 and is, politically, stable with regular democratic elections every 5 years.
For the last 20 years, the economy was based on sugar cane, tourism and the manufacturing sector (mostly textile). Now, with the ongoing globalisation, Mauritius has to find new avenues for development as we aren't competitive enough in those fields...
The Government and the private sector have identified some new avenues, IT services and financial services, in addition to the further development of the existing tourism sector.
As for IT, Government is concentrating on building new schools and giving incentives to the University of Mauritius (where I work as lecturer in Computer Science) to produce a more IT-litterate workforce (whatever that may mean). Mauritius has obtained a $100 million line of credit from India to build what is known here as CyberTowers and CyberCities.
Of course, this migration towards a service-oriented economy will take some years. The Governement has already announced that the whole country will have to become a duty-free country (yeah:-) like Dubai and Singapore in order to attract more and more tourists.
As everyone know, by 2008, owing to the World Trade Organisation, all countries including Mauritius will have to compete on the same level (there will be no more prefential agreements between countries nor any guaranteed quotas etc.)
Small countries like mine need to move quickly or else we will perish.
I am a Mauritian. For those who don't know, Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean not too far from Madagascar which for the last 20 years has been progressing very well economically and technologically.
Since the last 2-3 years, the (democratic) government has decided to set up a cybercity and have identified a zone where all sorts of new infrastructures have been built (Internet connectivity, electricity, roads, housing etc)
The governement has also built in the middle of the cybercity a cybertower which is a 15-floor building with the latest facilities (like Internet connectivity).
We must now rent the space and, for the moment, some foreign (especially Indian and French) IT-related companies (mainly call centers) have already come.
Unfortunately, the private sector is not too keen to invest in the cybercity right now. In fact, apart from the cybertower, the cybercity is empty... The reasons for that are numerous: (1) the economic situation is difficult worldwide for most companies (2) the IT sector is very volatile and risky and (3) Mauritius doesn't have the required workforce (and I have to agree with that even though I am a Lecturer in Computer Science at tertiary level and it's my job to train IT professionnals...)
So for the time being, our cybercity is somewhat only a cybertower with some call centers...
Slashdot Mirror
I guess many of us will need to start saving now... Damn!
> Wish you luck? Can't you see that the whole WTO thing was made to make your island perish?
:-) Succeding has nothing to do with luck. It takes dedication and proper "canvassing" to succeed...
I tend to agree with your statement. But what can Mauritius do against the WTO? We do not have many choices, isn't it? We can only TRY to be quicker than the others.
On the other hand, Mauritius is stable, relatively rich (or rather not poor) and have a committed (but not yet highly trained) workforce. So, there is still hope. But I agree that it will be difficult.
> Appealing to the slash-dotters here for luck is the wrong way to look since they still think you're "lost in the Blackness" living in a coconut treehouse.
I used a smiley
Check your facts before saying such uninformed comments. British Emprire land??? You must be joking. Mauritius is independent since 1968 and we are closer culturally and somewhat economically to France. Have you ever come to Mauritius???
Sorry not to agree. Mauritius is a thriving democracy, it is peaceful and politically stable.
:-)
I should know : I live there
I am Mauritian, living and working in Mauritius right now.
:-) like Dubai and Singapore in order to attract more and more tourists.
:-)
Mauritius is a small (about 1400 km2) tropical island not very far from Madagascar. Mauritius became independent in 1968, is a republic since 1991 and is, politically, stable with regular democratic elections every 5 years.
For the last 20 years, the economy was based on sugar cane, tourism and the manufacturing sector (mostly textile). Now, with the ongoing globalisation, Mauritius has to find new avenues for development as we aren't competitive enough in those fields...
The Government and the private sector have identified some new avenues, IT services and financial services, in addition to the further development of the existing tourism sector.
As for IT, Government is concentrating on building new schools and giving incentives to the University of Mauritius (where I work as lecturer in Computer Science) to produce a more IT-litterate workforce (whatever that may mean). Mauritius has obtained a $100 million line of credit from India to build what is known here as CyberTowers and CyberCities.
Of course, this migration towards a service-oriented economy will take some years. The Governement has already announced that the whole country will have to become a duty-free country (yeah
As everyone know, by 2008, owing to the World Trade Organisation, all countries including Mauritius will have to compete on the same level (there will be no more prefential agreements between countries nor any guaranteed quotas etc.)
Small countries like mine need to move quickly or else we will perish.
Wish us luck
I am a Mauritian. For those who don't know, Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean not too far from Madagascar which for the last 20 years has been progressing very well economically and technologically.
Since the last 2-3 years, the (democratic) government has decided to set up a cybercity and have identified a zone where all sorts of new infrastructures have been built (Internet connectivity, electricity, roads, housing etc)
The governement has also built in the middle of the cybercity a cybertower which is a 15-floor building with the latest facilities (like Internet connectivity).
We must now rent the space and, for the moment, some foreign (especially Indian and French) IT-related companies (mainly call centers) have already come.
Unfortunately, the private sector is not too keen to invest in the cybercity right now. In fact, apart from the cybertower, the cybercity is empty... The reasons for that are numerous: (1) the economic situation is difficult worldwide for most companies (2) the IT sector is very volatile and risky and (3) Mauritius doesn't have the required workforce (and I have to agree with that even though I am a Lecturer in Computer Science at tertiary level and it's my job to train IT professionnals...)
So for the time being, our cybercity is somewhat only a cybertower with some call centers...
That why the European Union has just fined Microsoft for 'illegal pratices' instead of 'being in a monopolistic situation'...
I won't mind having 1 GMail invite. My email address is avinash AT noulakaz DOT net
Thanks.