Strengthening the Economic Partnership Agreement between Mauritius and the European Union
European Union’s Ambassador to Mauritius has just completed his mandate
In a press release, the European Union’s Ambassador highlighted Mauritius’ potential as the European Union remains the main trading partner of Mauritius. The European Union and the Republic of Mauritius have long enjoyed a strong trade partnership. As an illustration, Mauritius, along with 5 other African countries including the Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU in 2009 which aims to reduce trade barriers between the parties.
H.E. Mr Vincent Degert noted that the « EU remains Mauritius’ main trading partner, accounting for almost 30 % of total trade. Moreover, data shows that Mauritius’ total trade with the EU has increased since the implementation of the EPA. The European Union will continue supporting the country’s economy through foreign direct investment ».
Mauritius International Trade
Speaking of Mauritius’ international trade, it is interesting to note that Mauritius ranked 142nd in terms of exports and 134th in terms of imports in 2021. In the same year, exports were valued at 2.26 billion USD against imports of 5.52 billion USD. On the one hand, the main export products were processed fish (241 million USD), raw sugar (189 million USD), non-knitted garments (110 million USD), knitted T-shirts (89.4 million USD), and diamonds (71.8 million USD). The main destinations are France (240 million USD), South Africa (238 million USD), Zimbabwe (198 million USD), the United States (156 million USD) and the United Kingdom (151 million USD). On the other hand, the main imports are refined petroleum (702 million USD), frozen fish (223 million USD), cars (185 million USD), medicines (183 million USD), and coal briquettes (171 million USD). Imports came mainly from China (1.01 billion USD), India (787 million USD), South Africa (473 million USD), the United Arab Emirates (441 million USD) and France (396 million USD).
Trade with the European Union
Examining the trade relationship between the European Union and Mauritius, the European Union exported goods worth 1.17 billion USD to Mauritius in 2022, the main products being: pearls, stones, and precious metals (145.53 million USD), machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers (133.83 million USD), vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock (89.89 million USD), electrical and electronic equipment (84.84 million USD), essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics, toilet articles (51.70 million USD). On the import side, EU imports from Mauritius amounted to 627.74 million USD in 2022, of which the main products were industrial meat products (177.39 million USD), sugar (88.59 million USD), knitted or crocheted garments (54.73 million USD), pearls, precious stones, metals, coins (51.76 million USD), garments, not knitted or crocheted (44.57 million USD).
