The Prime Minister, Dr Navin Ramgoolam, who is on an official visit to Singapore, was warmly received on Wednesday by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who qualified the visit as a new milestone in the relationship between the two countries. At a banquet given in honour of the Mauritian prime Minister, Loong spoke of the similarities between the countries which are both island nations, have a multi ethnic populations. ” As small states, we had we had to cultivate our survival instincts and develop our strengths. We need also to cooperate with others to maximise our influence and effectiveness on important issues of the day.”
Referring to Mauritius is the gateway for investors in sub-Saharan Africa, he said that Singapore is also the gateway to East Asia, which means that there are plenty of possibilities for both countries to cap on each others’ expertise and form partnerships to enter growing markets in Asia and Africa.
Loong spoke of the commitment of the government of Singapore to help Mauritius in its Human Resource Development. Since 1993, he said, more than 450 Mauritians have attended coursed organised by the Singapore Cooperation Programme in such fields as civil aviation, trade promotion, ICT, and public sector management.
Ramgoolam, on his part, recalled his first visit to Singapore in 1997 when he had been deeply impressed by the vibrancy, dynamism and confidence of the people. His second visit, he said, will build on the relationship that existed between Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew and his father, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, “two men of vision who shared a deep friendship and a commitment to nation building and socio-economic progress.”
But, beyond that, he said he would like to build on the long-standing relationship to give a new impetus to our bilateral relations.
“Since independence, while our aims were similar, we have taken different paths to development. The choice, in each case, was pragmatic and dictated by differing social, political and geographic realities? Economically, there is marked disparity in the distance we have travelled. Singapore is well entrenched in the ranks of the developed nations. Mauritius has attained the status of an emerging economy. Yet there is convergence in our policies in response to the twin exigencies of economic growth and social equity. And the means to these ends we have both chosen are expanded educational access, broadening the circle of opportunities and economic empowerment so that growth benefits the greatest number.”
Ramgoolam elaborated on the development of Mauritius, the comprehensive and bold reforms, the opening of the economy, business facilitation and rationalized the regulatory framework.
Referring to the present turmoil on the financial markets, Ramgoolam said that ” the brutal and painful corrections and readjustments under way have battered the smug supremacy of the free market as an ideology. The champions of unbridled capitalism are turning, overnight, into proponents of regulation, intervention and of what was, until recently, somewhat disparagingly, described as ’state dirigisme’.”
He pointed out, however, that Mauritius has not been not much affected either by the debt crisis of the 80’s or the Asian financial crisis of the 90’s. “This time too, our banking and financial institutions are not directly involved in the current sub prime crisis.

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