The meeting, which was co-chaired by Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, Florizelle Liser and Mauritian Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Anand Neewoor, was the second held under the TIFA’s bilateral Council on Trade and Investment, which monitors trade and investment relations, identifies opportunities for expanding trade and investment, and provides a forum for addressing challenges in the two countries’ trade ties.

The TIFA Council was set up to facilitate a dialogue and help to increase commercial and investment opportunities, by identifying and working to remove impediments to trade and investment flows between the United States and Mauritius.

“The TIFA Council reviewed a common workplan that the United States and Mauritius are jointly undertaking to implement the TIFA, including a wide-range of programs and activities to support, facilitate, and ensure progress and success in strengthening the US-Mauritian trade and investment relationship,” explained Ms Liser.

The meeting provided the opportunity to review progress, identify challenges, and chart the way forward for future work under the TIFA, according to a statement from the Office of the US Trade Representative.

During the TIFA Council meeting, officials from the United States and Mauritius explored common objectives – including cooperation in the World Trade Organization, implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, trade capacity building and technical assistance, intellectual property protection, export diversification, trade promotion, and development – and examined opportunities for a more comprehensive trade and investment relationship.