Exports: Russia in the Enterprise Mauritius Viewfinder

Enterprise Mauritius will host, from September 23 to 27, a program to promote business contacts for Mauritian manufacturers with potential Russian buyers. Two major cities are targeted Moscow and St. Petersburg.

This promotional campaign under the export diversification strategy developed by Enterprise Mauritius. Russia says the export promotion agency, has been identified as a high potential market for a specific number of Mauritian products. A market study did confirm that there may be opportunities in this country for exporters of textiles and clothing sectors, agro-industry, seafood, fruits and vegetables, jewelry, rum , sunglasses and leather products.  

Enterprise Mauritius won the support of the Moscow Agency for the Promotion of Exports (MIEPA), a consulting firm that is a subsidiary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Moscow, for the organization of meetings with Russian business. The project manager within the MIEPA, Yana Voyteshonok was in Mauritius from late May to early June to conduct a workshop on opportunities in the Russian market. The holding of this workshop was to sensitize local manufacturers in different facets of the Russian market, how the business men of this country are the business opportunities and penetration for Mauritian products from the above sectors, among others . The accession of Russia to the World Trade Organization and its impact on trade relations with Mauritius were also discussed at this workshop.

The representative of MIEPA also had the opportunity to visit companies Manufacturing and assess the quality of local products. She also met with the Minister of Trade and Industry Cader Sayyed Hossen and officers of his ministry, as well as representatives of the Mauritius Export Association (MEXA) and the seafood sector to discuss the sanitary and phytosanitary issues.

For Moreover, according to a survey of Enterprise Mauritius, the share of non-traditional markets in our total national exports is higher than that of traditional markets, or 52%, against 48% in 2012. It was found that the share of non-traditional markets in national exports were only 27% in 2005, but has steadily increased to Rs 29.1 billion in 2012 (52%) compared to Rs 27.1 billion (48%) for traditional markets. Enterprise Mauritius announces that it strives to diversify export markets and the following target market: Japan, China, Russia, Turkey, Germany, Scandinavia, the Middle East, India and Brazil. Meanwhile, efforts are being made ??on the African continent to increase Mauritian exports. In addition to increasing market share in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar, campaigns are conducted to other countries like Egypt , Rwanda, Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia and Malawi.

Enterprise Mauritius noted that total exports for the period covering January-April 2013 amounted to Rs 18.5 billion, compared to Rs 17, 3 billion for the corresponding period of the previous year, representing a growth of 6.6%. "Despite a difficult and uncertain global environment, Mauritian companies keep abreast of the impact of the economic crisis and are making efforts to consolidate their existing customers and enter new markets," said Enterprise Mauritius.