Mauritius - Economic Transition (TA) Project

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The objective of the Economic Transition (TA) Project is to improve the performance of selected public enterprises and services that contribute to an improved investment climate in Mauritius. There are three components to the project. The first component is the business facilitation. This component will support activities that aim to strengthen investment climate reforms in order to induce supply-side investment responses and accelerate economic growth. The second component is the public enterprise reform. Reduction of the budgetary burden of the parastatals and improvement in the efficiency and delivery of public services are key objectives of the Government. A public enterprise reform program is under preparation and parts of it are already being implemented. But there is a need for further development of the program design, a need to improve the management and coordination of the program and the flow of information on public enterprise performance, and to provide assistance to the sector ministries and public enterprises who will be involved in designing and implementing these reforms. Finally, the third component is the utility regulation and public private partnerships. The growth of private sector firms within the economy, especially those focusing on export-led growth as in the case of Mauritius, is impacted by the quality of infrastructure service delivery which forms an integral part of the investment climate. Improving the coverage and quality of these services through increased private participation in ownership and management is therefore a key focus under the Government's investment climate enhancement strategy and under the project.