by ANSAR M BHATTI
ISLAMABAD, MAR 28 (DNA) –High Commissioner of Mauritius Rashidally Soobadar has said his country was ready to share its success story especially in the tourism field with Pakistan as Mauritius is ranked prominent among those countries that fetch huge influx of tourists every year.
The high commissioner made these remarks while speaking on the occasion of 51st anniversary of independence of Republic of Mauritius. Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda was the chief guest while ambassadors and high commissioners of the African group also attended the event along with other dignitaries.
Interestingly, a pin-drop silence was witnessed during the captivating speech of the high commissioner. By and large people do not pay any heed to speeches delivered on such occasions, however Mauritius envoy’s speech and the way he delivered that speech literally left the audience spell-bound.
Further dilating upon various avenues of mutual cooperation, the high commissioner said both countries can cooperate in many fields.
“We are 51 years of age and I see we have achieved maturity. Mauritius is condemned not to commit blunder. Mauritius became independent in 1968 and soon after that it established relations with Pakistan”.
He said Mauritius and Pakistan strongly believe in promotion of trade and economic ties because the real engines of growth and development are trade and economic relations. We encourage Pakistanis to invest in Mauritius as foreign investors are provided with a friendly business climate where ease of doing business is ensured.
Apart from trade and investment there are many other avenues where both countries can work together. Mauritius loves Pakistan and Pakistan loves Mauritius, he added.
The high commissioner said before independence Mauritius was in a bad shape with half million people having per capita income of only USD 200. It was one -crop island i.e sugarcane.
But what we have done in last 51 years is indeed a remarkable success story. We successfully diverted our economic from one crop to five economic pillars including agriculture; industry; ICT, hospitality and financial sector.
Total population of Mauritius is 1.2 million people while our yearly flow of tourists is around 1.5 million, which is more than our population. We have set a target of two million tourists for this year. Our per capita income has increased from USD 200 to USD 10500.
Mauritius is a plural society where people of different faiths live together. He said Mauritius happens to be the best example of unity in diversity and diversity in unity.
The high commissioner underlined certain challenges also that his country was facing including the ageing population, however he said since there was a strong will and determination to take on these challenges therefore Mauritius shall successfully overcome these challenges.=DNA
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