{"id":29748,"date":"2017-06-09T11:54:38","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T07:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ict.io\/green-mauritius-being-the-first-country-in-the-world-to-make-a-total-ecological-transition\/"},"modified":"2017-06-09T11:54:38","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T07:54:38","slug":"green-mauritius-being-the-first-country-in-the-world-to-make-a-total-ecological-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict.io\/en\/green-mauritius-being-the-first-country-in-the-world-to-make-a-total-ecological-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Mauritius, being the first country in the world to make a total ecological transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Friday, a public conference was held at the Labourdonnais Hotel in Port-Louis on the theme “The excesses of globalization” initiated by theAssociation of Mauritian Manufacturers<\/a>. The latter was hosted by Thomas Gu\u00e9nol\u00e9, French political scientist and editorialist, author of “La Mondialisation Malheureuse”. The essayist highlighted a large-scale project for the country: that of placing Mauritius as the first country in the world to make a 100% ecological transition.<\/p>\n

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This time of exchange on the analysis of globalisation and the socio-economic imbalances generated was also a prospective exercise allowing the different actors of the Mauritian market to collectively question themselves on the opening of the country as a SDIS (Small Developing Island States). In the perspective of an alternative system to the current model of globalization, here is a summary of some of the questions addressed during the conference: who are the winners and who are the losers of globalization, how to correct the drifts and the increase of inequalities, or how to defend our island economic specificities against the big industrial nations.<\/p>\n

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Forget about preconceived ideas<\/h2>\n

We regularly hear the various actors of the Mauritian economy wishing to position Mauritius as the Singapore of the Indian Ocean. But this prospect of becoming the tiger of the Indian Ocean is unlikely, nor even desirable for the country’s economy, for various reasons.<\/p>\n

The Singaporean economic model is one where agricultural fundamentals have been forgotten in favour of fiscal activities. The debt-to-GDP ratio is higher than the GDP ratio and external debt is prominent, situations that are not advisable for most economies.<\/p>\n

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It is true that our country has a strong tax appeal like Singapore, but that is not enough. Singapore has over 70 billion exports per year, a huge amount compared to our small island, which would be incapable of doing so given its demographic capacity. Why aim so high when the island can position itself in a more lucrative and accessible niche market for its economy? Thomas Gu\u00e9nol\u00e9 advises adopting a development project that takes into account the nation’s own characteristics, rather than copying this foreign model that is unsuited to the island’s demography.<\/p>\n

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Will Maurice end up a bankrupt?<\/h2>\n

The economist also said that the situation in Mauritius was eerily reminiscent of Iceland in the 2000s. Explanations: previously, Iceland relied on its financial overexpansion to the detriment of the rest of its economy and this led to an unprecedented financial crisis for the country. Iceland was then declared “Bankrupt”. Let us hope that a different fate is possible for our small island if financial expansion stops proliferating in the country in favour of other economic activities, such as ICT.<\/p>\n

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