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The
CyberCity wealth boom
The first
CyberCity at Ebène promises to unleash undreamt of opportunities
for investment and wealth creation, according to Acting Prime
Minister and Minister of Finance Paul Bérenger. He was speaking
at the opening of the Mauritius Conference on Access to ICTs for
All, which aims at formulating a common African vision to bridge
the information divide between developed and developing countries.
The objective
is to discuss how ICT can bring social and economic development
in Africa and also identify the importance of an information society
to eradicate poverty, improve delivery of education and healthcare
services, encourage innovation and increase productivity. The
Mauritian Declaration will be submitted to the World Summit on
the Information Society in Geneva later this year.
Triangular
cooperation
The African
ministers' meeting was opened at the Plaza Beach Resort by Mr.
Bérenger in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Sri
Nara Chandra Babu Naidu. Mr Bérenger said Mauritius was committed
as a next step to the implementation of its ambitious ICT development
programme to forge triangular cooperation involving India, Mauritius
and Africa towards building an e-economy.
Mauritius'
bilingual advantage as well as the presence of the World Hindi
Secretariat on Mauritius soil should, he said, provide the basis
for the development of strong ICT links to "the mutual benefit"
of the three partners. "We in government are committed to exploiting
fully the potential of ICT in our drive to faster growth, expand
export markets and build a diversified economy" he said. He pointed
out that Mauritius was fortunate to benefit from a strategic partnership
with India, "a giant" in the ICT field, in its endeavour to make
of Mauritius a cyberisland and develop the ICT industry into a
fifth pillar of the economy.
"The digital
revolution resents a formidable challenge to developing countries
but it offers vast and untapped opportunities for economic growth
and social transformation. Unfortunately the digital divide is
more pronounced in Africa and has created a knowledge gap between
information rich and information poor" he said. He added that
it threatens to give rise to a new form of illiteracy and limit
the opportunities for economic growth and wealth creation.
Mr Naidu paid
tribute to the Mauritian government for its initiatives in the
ICT sector and pointed out the importance of ICT in eradicating
poverty and improving "all aspects of our social, economic and
cultural life". He said India and Mauritius were closely associated
in various fields and his country would commit total support to
enable Mauritius to realise its ambition of becoming a cyberisland.
ICT he underlined is a strategic tool for the enhancement of competitiveness
and should have affordable access to ensure improvement in quality
of life.
Missed
opportunities
Mauritian
Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications Pradeep
Jeeha underlined that Africa, despite its abundance in land, natural
and mineral resources has missed two important opportunities offered
by the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution to
join the club of the developed world and could also miss the ICT
revolution if nothing is done.
"It is fortunate
that the United Nations has come to realise it is high time that
measures be taken to bridge the digital divide and decided to
hold the World Summit on Information Society to identify ways
and means to provide the necessary assistance to the needy countries,"
he said. He added that the summit was a unique opportunity for
Africa to voice its predicaments and aspirations and to appeal
to the international community for financial and technical assistance
needed to create the e-Africa.
News
on Sunday, April 04-10, 2003
(For more
information on Mauritius' ICT policy visit the Government's National
Computer Board's website at http://ncb.intnet.mu/
)
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