US Comments On TIFA Meeting With Mauritius

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

08 February 2007

Following the conclusion of a meeting to discuss implementation of the United States-Mauritius Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), the US authorities have welcomed the direction in which the relationship between the two countries is heading.

The two days of meetings were co-led by Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, Florizelle Liser and Mauritian Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Cooperation Minister Madan Dulloo, and were the first held under the TIFA’s bilateral Council on Trade and Investment (TIFA Council), 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.

Commenting, Deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia announced that:

“I’m pleased that, within six months of its signing, we are using our TIFA agreement with Mauritius to deepen and strengthen our engagement with that country and to stimulate our relationship with key African trading partners.”

She continued:

“Our TIFA Council is an important part of our continuing effort to improve the US-Mauritian trade and investment relationship.”

The meeting allowed the two governments to set priorities, identify objectives, establish benchmarks, outline impediments, and chart the way forward for work under the TIFA.

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, export diversification, trade and investment promotion, and economic development. They also examined opportunities for a more comprehensive trade and investment relationship.

The TIFA Council reviewed a common workplan that the United States and Mauritius will jointly undertake in order 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.

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