Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Mauritius Ltd, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, officially launched the SME Fair, on Saturday 06 August 2022, in Flacq.
The objective of this fair was to enhance the visibility of locally manufactured products and help entrepreneurs maintain commercial relations with existing customers as well as to attract new customers.
The fair was open to the public from 05 to 07 August 2022 and artisanal, agribusiness and textile products, as well as plants, flowers and, jewelleries were on sale.
Some ninety entrepreneurs participated in the fair. The opening was done in the presence of the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, and other eminent personalities.
In his address, Minister Bholah highlighted that the fair provided a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase, promote and sell products to individual and corporate buyers as well as to visiting tourists.
“This fair is also an opportunity to highlight the local know-how and increase the visibility of Mauritian entrepreneurs,” he pointed out.
Furthermore, he recalled that in view of supporting SMEs, which contribute to 35% of the Gross Domestic Product and to some 44% of the workforce, a series of measures were announced in Budget 2022-2023.
They include: a financial envelope of Rs 5 billion to the Development Bank of Mauritius (DBM) to support SMEs; the establishment of a Rs 5 billion Venture Capital Fund by the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd; the extension of the SME Interest Free Loan Scheme and the COVID-19 Special Support Scheme until June 2023; and the revision of the definition of SMEs to classify companies with a turnover of up to Rs 100 million as SMEs to enable an additional 142 000 companies to benefit from the schemes.
On this score, Minister Bholah appealed to entrepreneurs to take full advantage of the schemes put at their disposal for the development of this sector as one of the main pillars of the economy, thereby helping the Government create a new generation of entrepreneurs.
“You will be called to continuously reinvent yourselves, innovate, modernise and adopt new technologies, and in this context, you will have the unflinching support of my Ministry and SME Mauritius Ltd to further consolidate the SME sector,” he stressed.
The Minister further called for entrepreneurs to focus on improving competitiveness, productivity and quality so as to survive in the entrepreneurial world. On this note, he encouraged them to make the most of the trainings and facilities provided in all branches of SME Mauritius Ltd across the island.
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