SPEECHES

Remarks by Ambassador Cesar B. Cabrera
at the Signing of Land Based Oceanic Industry Technical Assistance Grant to the Government of Mauritius
by the U.S. Trade & Development Agency

Friday, September 28, 2007

Honorable Deputy Prime Minister Rama Krishna Sithanen;
Honorable Minister Boolell
Honorable Minister Jeetah
Representatives of Industry;
Senior members of the Board of Investment;
Distinguished guests;

I want to thank you for your presence today for the signing of this grant agreement between our two governments.  Under this agreement, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency or USTDA will provide US$375,000 (approx. Rs 12 million) to the Board of Investment to finance the technical assistance required for its Land Based Oceanic Industry or LBOI. 

It was only a year ago, when our two governments launched our Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, commonly known as TIFA.  On that day, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Kharan Bhatia proclaimed that the signing of that agreement was just the beginning.  It is my great pleasure to further the goals of the framework today by signing this grant which will bring the LBOI project one step closer to the implementation phase.

This is not the first time USTDA has provided assistance to the Government of Mauritius.  Since 1998, USTDA has provided various government agencies a total of $1.4 million (approx. Rs 44 million) for technical assistance.  USTDA has sponsored several orientation visits and seminars to the U.S. and elsewhere for both public and private sector representatives.  The U.S. Government looks forward to continuing this great partnership and commends the Government of Mauritius for actively promoting the development of the LBOI project. 

The LBOI has the potential to emerge as another pillar of the Mauritian economy.  The U.S. is happy to assist in this exciting project and will also encourage U.S. private sector firms to participate in the implementation of the project.  By embracing the future we can make history with the Land-Based Ocean Industry project.

Thank You.