The Economic Development Board (EDB) marks a new beginning in the economic landscape of Mauritius. It heralds a new chapter in economic planning, investment, trade promotion and facilitation. The EDB commenced its operations as a statutory body on 15th January 2018 following the merger between the Board of Investment, Enterprise Mauritius and the Financial Services Promotion Agency.
The overarching objective of the EDB is to ensure greater coherence and effectiveness in implementing policies and draw the vision for the economic development path to be adopted to reach a high-income economy status, through sustainable and inclusive growth, whilst ensuring economic independence.
The mandate of EDB is to, inter alia, provide strong institutional support for strategic economic planning and ensure greater coherence and effectiveness in economic policy formulation; promote Mauritius as an attractive investment and business centre, a competitive export platform as well as an International Financial Centre (IFC); act as the main institution responsible for country branding for investment promotion; and facilitate both inward and outward investment and ensure a conducive business environment.
As an apex body operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, the EDB synergizes efforts across all ministries and with private stakeholders to meet the set goals. The EDB is responsible to drive research projects and lead initiatives with other stakeholders and address issues such as mismatch in the education and labour system; the impact of an ageing population; the adoption of technology and innovation; infrastructural development; and the opening of the economy, amongst others.
The business facilitation agenda of the EDB will, on the other hand, ensure that projects are swiftly implemented by ensuring that time-frames are respected by licensing authorities. EDB will ensure that no undue delay is caused due to unnecessary and overly burdensome administrative procedures. The national e-licensing platform is being implemented to curtail inefficiencies and provide more certainty to the business community.
