The Economic Development Board (EDB), in collaboration with the Ministry of Financial Services, organised a financial services promotion mission from 18th to 23rd March 2017 in the Gulf region. The main objective of this mission was to increase the visibility of the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) in the key Gulf markets, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

The mission was led by the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Honourable D. Sesungkur, and comprised of representatives of the private sector, including management companies and banking institutions.

In addition to Business Forums and roundtable discussions, which showcased the attributes of the Mauritius IFC, highly targeted one-to-one meetings were held with investment banks, law firms, tax advisors, and decision-makers in key multinational corporations.

Meetings were also held with a key-Dubai based international stock exchange to pave the way for negotiations and for future collaboration with the Mauritius jurisdiction; notably in the capital markets segment; and with the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Services, a state-of-the art facility which trains more than 24,000 financial services professionals every year.  
Areas of collaboration with the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Services included a signing of a MOU to enable access of Mauritius-based students to the e-learning facilities of the Institute, the development of an Islamic finance curriculum for Mauritian and African professionals, and exchange programs for students enrolled at the Financial Services Institute of Mauritius. 

Discussions were also held with the Qatar Chamber, notably for fostering economic ties between Mauritius and Qatar.  In this regard, the top executives of the Qatar Chamber have expressed their interest to conduct a prospective mission in the second quarter of the year in Mauritius with the aim encouraging Qatari investors to explore investment opportunities in Mauritius and using Mauritius as a platform to invest in Africa.