Muhammad Reza Uteem is a barrister with an expert training in International commercial law, corporate finance, public law, trusts and tax consultancy and litigation. He has since 1995 advised a variety of Funds investing in India, China and Africa.

The Independent Broadcasting Authority, in collaboration with ICTA held a three-day crash course for media practitioners this week on ‘Crisis Reporting in the Digital Age.’ In this context, a high profile trainer, Professor Nixon Kariithi, from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, was invited to entertain local journalists on the need to be prepared to provide effective coverage during moments of national crisis.

The Mauritius Post, one of the oldest postal services in the world, is celebrating its 240th anniversary this year. It started from overseas mail by sea with a coach distribution inland, until it reaches today with air mail, courier and a quicker islandwide dispatch.

Mauritius is hosting a mini Pravasi Bharitya Divas, meeting of the Indian diaspora, on 27 and 28 October 2012, three months ahead of the annual gathering which will be held next year in India, from 7 to 9 January 2013.

Last year public debt was at 57% of GDP. The Bank of Mauritius report of February 2012 stated that the gross external debt of the country has risen by 12.7% to Rs 40,020 million as at end-September 2011, driven by an increase in central government external debt. 

Mauritius is hosting the 3rd World Chinese Conference this week at the Grand Baie Conference Centre from 6 to 9 September.

In two weeks the Energy Efficiency Management Office is launching an Energy Efficiency week. The Office has sketched up an Action Plan 2012-2015 and with the collaboration of the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency a road map is being drawn up to 2030 as well as the setting up of an Observatory for Energy here.

Mauritius is the host of a three-day technical meeting on Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) 2012, focused on “enhancing intraregional labour mobility toward social and economic development in the SADC region.”

The world older population, i.e persons of 65 years or above, numbered 39.6 million in 2009. By the year 2030 there will be about 72.1 million old people, more than twice their number in 2000.

Mauritius exports over 1,500 product lines to some 150 countries worldwide. Quality products are today exported all over the world and can be found on the shelves of leading retail and departmental stores in the major capital cities.

More than 90,000 employees of the public sector- government servants, workers of para-statal bodies and those of the local authorities, are waiting impatiently for the publication of the PRB (Pay Research Bureau) Report which is due to be published in early October.

The US Congress voted on Thursday 2 August to renew a key provision in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) related to Third Country Fabrics.