News: Maritime London & SMI sign MoU with Mauritius

London recently hosted a top-level delegation from Mauritius consisting of representatives from the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) and the Port Users’ Council. This was the result of a visit to Mauritius by the Lord Mayor of the City of London earlier in the year.

The MPA has embarked on a series of development projects in Port Louis aimed at modernising the port infrastructure and facilities, and to add more capacity to meet the fast expanding maritime trade. The purpose of the visit to London was to meet with the UK maritime service providers and identify potential areas of cooperation.

To facilitate this Maritime London and the Society of Maritime Industries (SMI) co-organised a B2B session on July 5th held at the Baltic Exchange, during which the seven representatives from Mauritius had an opportunity to meet fourteen UK companies that had responded to the particular opportunities highlighted in advance of the meeting. Following a highly informative video of the future direction of the maritime growth in Mauritius, each of the UK delegates gave a five-minute presentation on how what they had to offer. “This was the first time that members of ML and SMI had come together to demonstrate a significant section of the UK’s maritime offering. It demonstrated the strength of the sector and a highly comprehensive and competitive level of offering. We need more such meetings where visitors from overseas come to the UK with a shopping list of requirements and UK companies are able to respond in a professional and coordinated manner.” said Doug Barrow, Chief Executive of Maritime London.

Mr Maistry, Chairman of the MPA added, “It was really a fantastic meeting. It has been a golden opportunity to meet numerous stakeholders in this very dynamic Port sector.”

John Murray, Chief Executive of SMI said: ‘The B2B meeting with the delegates from Mauritius succeeded on a number of levels, not least because our guests came with a specific list of business opportunities which enabled us to invite member companies that met those requirements. It was also clear that there were synergies between the members of Maritime London and SMI which meant that we could present the UK as the best country to assist Mauritius with its ambitions for their maritime sector.”

Matt Gilbert, Head of Education at the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers commented that it was a worthwhile event, well organised and with high quality delegates.

The following day, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed at Mansion House, courtesy of the Lord Mayor, between Maritime London and the Society of Maritime Industries with the Mauritius Ports Authority and the Port User’s Council.

Jonathan Drew, Mauritius High Commissioner, who helped organise the visit said: “Business is right at the very heart of diplomacy, so the British High Commission in Mauritius was delighted to work with Maritime London and the Society of Maritime Industries to try to ensure the signature of an MOU with Mauritian maritime-focused companies and institutions was more than just an empty piece of paper. By all accounts real seeds for potential partnerships and business were planted at the B2B meeting at the Baltic Exchange. The High Commission will be very glad to continue to help ML and SMI members bring these opportunities – and any other interest from members who could not attend – to fruition so please get in contact if we can help.”