Competitiveness and productivity in Mauritius

Abstract

Mauritius is often viewed as one ofMrica's economic success stories, in spite of its limited natural resource endowment. The economic success of Mauritius was mainly fuelled by relatively cheap labour and preferential access to markets in Europe and the US for the country's major exports. Thus, moving from a monocrop economy based on sugar at independence, successful diversification was achieved through the setting up of Export Processing Zones and through the development of tourism. The erosion in the cost competitiveness of Mauritian exports as a result of the emergence of more labour-abundant economies has led to a further diversification drive in the direction of financial services and ICT. The National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) was set up in 1999 and became operational in May 2000. This paper highlights the principles underlying the actions of the NPCC and outlines its successes in promoting competitiveness and productivity in Mauritius.