PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius expects this year's foreign direct investments to at least match those of 2011 despite the global slowdown, with money flowing into a new range of sectors of the diversifying Indian Ocean island economy.
Maurice Lam, chairman of the Board of Investment, told Reuters the FDI target for this year was 10 billion rupees, slightly up from last year's 9.5 billion rupees.
Famed for its white sand beaches and luxury spas, Mauritius is shifting an economy traditionally focused on sugar, textiles and tourism more towards offshore banking, business outsourcing, luxury real estate and medical tourism.
Lam said the global economic downturn was affecting investment marketing, but based on a slight year on year rise in foreign direct investment over the first six months, he was confident the 2012 total would match last year's.
'I have asked the people of the BOI to double their efforts in order to be able to match last year's performance given the global economic context,' Lam said.
'We should bear in mind that there will be a shift in the amount of FDI as more investments flow into the light engineering, education and health care sectors.'
Mauritius, which pitches itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, is looking to the likes of Japan and South Korea for new investors.
The Bank of Mauritius said in June foreign direct investment
rose 15.5 percent to 1.598 billion rupees in the first quarter, led by the real estate and construction sectors.
South Africa was the main source of FDI, followed by France.
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