Africa-Press – Mauritius. A five-day regional seminar on ‘Developing a Risk-based Compliance Plan for Customs’, was launched this morning by the Junior Minister of Finance, Mr Dhaneshwar Damry at the Integrated Customs Clearance Centre in Plaine Magnien, bringing together customs officials from developing and emerging economies.
The event is organised by the International Monetary Fund AFRITAC South (IMF AFS) and hosted by the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA). It aims to support Customs administrations in strengthening their capacity to adopt an Integrated Risk Management Approach, thereby reinforcing controls, promoting voluntary compliance, and improving trade facilitation.
In his keynote address, Mr Dhaneshwar Damry praised the MRA for its capacity-building initiatives aimed at enhancing service effectiveness. He underlined the relevance of a risk-based compliance plan for all Government institutions, recalling that effectiveness and implementation of key actions are central areas for improvement ahead of Mauritius’ next Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review.
The Junior Minister reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to prioritising economic growth this year, highlighting that major projects set to transform the economic landscape are underway. “We will drive all our efforts to succeed towards our goal of making progress in quantum leaps”, he affirmed.
Moreover, Mr Damry expressed gratitude to the IMF for selecting Mauritius as a training hub for Africa, highlighting that the capacity-building initiatives will support participating countries in fostering inclusive growth and creating jobs. He reiterated the Government’s resolve to enhancing Mauritius’ role as a regional global capacity-building centre.
Ms Kate Chamley, High Commissioner of Australia to Mauritius, reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to partnering with the IMF in supporting strong and capable customs institutions across the region. She highlighted that, as a major IMF donor, Australia views technical assistance, capacity development, and peer learning provided through such programmes as essential tools for institutional strengthening.
The MRA’s Director-General, Mr Rohit Ramnawaz, welcomed the seminar as a timely initiative, emphasising its focus on identifying risks and converting risk analysis into actionable compliance measures through a structured and integrated Compliance Improvement Plan.
Mr Ramnawaz indicated that risk management should be regarded as a dynamic and evolving discipline, requiring continuous learning, collaboration, and adaptability. At the MRA, effective risk management enables intelligent allocation of scarce resources, incentivising compliance, and minimising unnecessary interventions, he stated.
Besides, he underpinned the MRA’s objectives to develop smarter, more agile, and resilient Customs administrations that both protect society and support sustainable growth.
