Three questions to...

Her Excellency Mrs Sarojini Seeneevassen-Frers, Ambassador of the Republic of Mauritius to Germany 

The COLEACP stand was visited by Her Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of Mauritius to Germany during her tour of the International Fair Fruit Logistica in February 2012. Her Excellency Mrs Sarojini Seeneevassen-Frers is advocating greater access to information so that Mauritian exporters are well tuned to the requirements of the European market, both in terms of food safety and the introduction of environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible production and marketing practices.

How can we improve the routing of information between cooperation programmes such as PIP and EDES and companies and other players in the Mauritian horticultural sector?

I have learned a great deal from meeting you and your organisation. It is now up to me to pass on this information to other organisations in Mauritius, for example our Chamber of Commerce "Invest Mauritius", so that young exporters can potentially be aware of the difficulties they will have to overcome before being able to export to the European Union. 

Do you see dealing with the private sector as being part of an ambassador's role?

Absolutely, I am delighted to be in a position to do this and take great pleasure from it. If large companies do have the means to be kept up to date with regulations and procedures, small and medium-sized companies also need support in this area. Our government works together with the private sector to revitalise small and medium-sized enterprises and help them identify markets. 

You have had discussions with Mauritian companies involved in fruit and vegetable production and trade. What do you think of their exhibiting at a fair such as Fruit Logistica?

We have five exhibitors, which is very encouraging. Some have a great deal of experience, whilst a few newcomers are still learning the ropes. And here again I believe that information is required. Firstly, I am astonished that we have five exhibitors here. We are so small, this is already a huge step forward. And I would even go so far as to say that this is down to Entreprise Mauritius, however communication is still open to improvement.