Speeches

Chargé d’Affaires Virgnia M. Blaser's Remarks
at the Opening of the Agricultural Commodities Market Development Workshop

Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel
Monday, April 6, 2009

Hon. Satish Faugoo, Minister of Agro-Industry, Food Production and Security;
Our U.S. Speakers;
Distinguished Participants;
Ladies & Gentlemen

Good Morning!

Thank you very much for joining us this morning for the U.S. Agricultural Commodities Market Development workshop organized by the U.S. Embassy.   I’m particularly grateful to Minister Faugoo for joining us today and for agreeing to speak at this workshop.   

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and speak to those on the frontlines of the ever-important Agricultural sector about the courage and creativity it will take to prosper and provide for our people in an era where the very concept of “cheap food” is being challenged by natural disasters, desertification, and energy needs.

It was in the late 1700’s, when a group of ordinary American men, mostly farmers, decided to take up the cause of life, liberty, and prosperity and build  what has become one of the most vibrant economies in the world.   Some time later, in the 1960’s, a small Indian Ocean island nation courageously gained independence as a monocrop economy and, fueled by the agricultural sector, grew to be renowned for its exemplary economy that ranks top-tier on various indices. 

Our two democracies share similar agrarian and colonial histories, but through a common courage and creativity we have blossomed into dynamic and prosperous democracies, and through initiatives like today’s workshop we will share in a similar future-- reaping the benefits of more efficient food production, increased trade, and sustainable development. 

Our goal is that this workshop will give focus to our collective strengths and will bring about better collaboration in both of our agricultural sectors.

Perhaps even more importantly, this workshop on agriculture and agribusiness is essential to progress Mauritian exports under AGOA. 

Thus far, Mauritian exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) have been overly dominated by textiles. 

If you leave this workshop with only one idea, let it be this one: 

that

AGOA holds a wealth of opportunities for non-textile products--in fact the list of products eligible for preferential exports under AGOA and the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) include more than 6,000 items – and  

I encourage Mauritian entrepreneurs to take a hard look at the opportunities of doing business with the U.S. in non-textile products in order to diversify Mauritian exports to the U.S. market. 

But we do not speak today simply to encourage you.

We have long held out the hand of cooperation to Mauritian companies so they can make the most of AGOA.

For example, in the last couple of years we provided a range of technical assistance and support to several firms in Mauritius to help them enter the U.S. market, especially in the processed food sector. Through the participation of Mauritian companies in the Fancy Food shows in New York, some local companies are or will soon be exporting to the U.S. such products as jam, agricultural rum, spices, tuna, special salt, tea, and honey.

As another example, a few months ago, our regional Agricultural Counselor, Scott Sindelar, visited Mauritius to review the agriculture/agribusiness component of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement   (TIFA) between the U.S. and Mauritius and assess how U.S. Department of Agriculture-- or USDA-- programs could better support that agreement.   (It is worth mentioning here that our senior trade representative for Africa will be in Mauritius in a couple of weeks for the next round of TIFA talks…a tremendous example of how seriously the new administration takes our trade relationship with Mauritius.)

During the review, Mr. Sindelar identified several areas where USDA programs might be of interest to Mauritius, including food safety and security, sanitary and phytosanitary technical issues, agricultural biotechnology, and skills development. 

This workshop is a product of that review and is deliberately aligned with the Mauritian Governments’ Food Security Strategic Plan, which aims to increase Mauritian food self-sufficiency level, reducing its dependency on imports, and building resilience against future food crises. 

As part of this workshop, we brought you our experts from around the world – from the U.S., from Africa, and even from Tunisia – to help you with your company strategies.   Let me present our team:

The U.S. Potato Board (represented by Kurt Shultz and Heiko Koster) and the U.S. Grain Council (represented by Peter Joyce) can help Mauritian producers increase and improve--through new and creative ways-- the production of potatoes, potato seeds, corn, soybean and other grains in Mauritius and around the region. 

The US Department of Agriculture is represented this week by our attaché, Kari Rojas, who will present the many technical assistance programs and services offered by the USDA for capacity building.  She is also here to explain how Mauritian firms can satisfy U.S. regulations required to export agricultural and food products to the U.S. market. 

This top notch group is joined by the Embassy’s own Economic and Commercial team of Quentin Barber, Shariff Jathoonia, and Rahmat Caunhye. They will be glad to assist you with any follow-up inquiries you may have with regard to any of the areas of business discussed today.

Please remember that our U.S. experts will be available for consultations and site visits from this afternoon to Wednesday morning April 8.  I understand that while many of you have already arranged to work with our experts, they still have a bit of time left in the schedule…so please do work with our Embassy coordinator, Quentin Barber, to sign up for one of the few remaining slots.

Also, please take a few minutes to look at the catalog/CD display on the two tables at the back.  They’ll provide you with important information on leading U.S. producers and exporters of agricultural commodities (including corn, soybean, potatoes, seeds, and other grains), their different varieties, production methods, and export norms.

I have no doubt that you’ll enjoy the presentations today and that what you learn today will be very beneficial to your operations.  

And I challenge you to be bold and to be creative to find solutions for current and future challenges in the agricultural sector. 

Again, thank you for your presence and I wish you a very successful and fruitful workshop!