Mauritius - Country Commercial Guide
Selling to the Public Sector
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Major government contracts are handled through an autonomous Central Procurement Board.  Government procurement regulations are available online.  The Procurement Policy Office runs the public e-procurement system.   The GoM publishes tender notices in the Government Gazette and local media, as well as on the Central Procurement Board’s website.  The Embassy monitors tenders open to foreign participation and forwards them to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which in turn disseminates them to the U.S. business community through U.S. Export Assistance Centers.  Successful foreign bidders generally work with local partners in pursuing major contracts.  Many governments finance public works projects through borrowing from the Multilateral Development Banks.  Mauritius is not a signatory to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.

Advocacy

U.S. companies bidding on Government tenders may also qualify for U.S. Government advocacy. A unit of the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, the Advocacy Center coordinates U.S. Government interagency advocacy efforts on behalf of U.S. exporters bidding on public sector contracts with international governments and government agencies. The Advocacy Center works closely with our network of the U.S. Commercial Service worldwide and inter-agency partners to ensure that exporters of U.S. products and services have the best possible chance of winning government contracts. Advocacy assistance can take many forms but often involves the U.S. Embassy or other U.S. Government agencies expressing support for the U.S. bidders directly to the foreign government. Consult Advocacy for Foreign Government Contracts for additional information.

Financing of Projects

Many infrastructure projects are financed by institutions such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the French Agence Française de Développement, the Kuwait Fund, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.  Some are funded through bilateral assistance from France, India, China, Germany, and Japan.  These sources fund a broad portfolio of projects, including port and airport upgrades, sewage treatment, road, bridge and dam construction, energy, telecommunications, hospital and housing construction, and sports facilities.  Mauritius is eligible for the programs of both the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, which replaced the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in December 2019, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).  The U.S. Trade and Development Agency also provides grant funding for feasibility studies spanning a wide variety of sectors.

Multilateral Development Banks and Financing Government Sales

Price, payment terms, and financing can be a significant factor in winning a government contract. Many governments finance public works projects through borrowing from the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB). A helpful guide for working with the MDBs is the Trade Finance Guide. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s (USDOC) International Trade Administration (ITA) has a Foreign Commercial Service Officer stationed at each of the five different Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs): the African Development Bank; the Asian Development Bank; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the Inter-American Development Bank; and the World Bank.

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