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3.9. Government plans to promote the local production of food crops, agro-processing, and smart agriculture to improve food security in Mauritius. (...) Over the past few years, the Government has been supporting planters in a bid to promote organic farming. The Development Bank of Mauritius (DBM) provide loans at the concessional rate of 0.5% per annum to farmers in order to encourage them in agricultural production.

3.27. Tapping into the economic potential of the ocean — while at the same time protecting this resource — requires thoughtful policy, planning and management. With this in mind, the Government in its "Vision 2030" Strategy has stated the vision to transform Mauritius into an Ocean State by promoting the "blue economy "as one of its main pillars of development. The strategy is to work on the consolidation of traditional activities but also develop emerging ones such as aquaculture, maritime services, marine biotechnology and oil & gas exploration.

3.36. Mauritius, being a small Island Developing State faces numerous challenges such as the impact of climate change, overfished lagoon, limited capacity for stock assessment, surveillance of its huge EEZ and combating Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing amongst others. Moreover, the country is facing difficulties to acquire relevant expertise and sophisticated equipment for the development of its marine biotechnology, marine renewable energy (...).

3.38. To unlock and realize the country's ocean potential in a sustainable and inclusive manner, consultations are ongoing between different institutions with a view to improving existing policies, including administrative and legal framework. The objective is to support the development and facilitation of projects in sectors where investment and trade opportunities exist (...) marine services ((...) marine renewable energies).

3.39. In order to modernize the fisheries sector, the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act which was promulgated in 2007 is being reviewed and amended to consolidate the law relating to the management, conservation, protection of fisheries and marine resources and protection of the marine ecosystems in line with our international obligations. With a view to sustainably exploit and protect marine species such as lobsters, squid, and other small commercial pelagic fish species, Mauritius intends to undertake stock assessment surveys.

3.41. Besides, the Government of Mauritius is also putting a lot of emphasis on surveillance of the EEZ to detect and deter illicit activities, including IUU fishing. In this context, the Vessel Monitoring System Regulations (2005) will be reviewed and updated in line with new international obligations to provide for maximum usage of information gathered through this system to combat IUU fishing.

3.58. Inclusive and sustainable tourism development is being used as a main tool to address prevailing challenges.

3.59. As a Small Island Developing State, Mauritius is among the ten most vulnerable countries prone to disasters in the world. With a view to lowering carbon emissions, a strategic greening of the tourism sector is being undertaken. This ensures a continuation of the process towards elimination of unsustainable environmental practices throughout the tourism value chain, by targeting all economic activities directly or indirectly related to the tourism industry.

3.111. The Financial Services Commission of Mauritius (FSC) has signed the Marrakech Pledge, a coalition of African capital market regulators and exchanges committed to acting collectively in favour of green finance. The Marrakech Pledge aims at enabling an operational framework for regulators to substantially scale up green market-based financing to fight climate change. It has been at the forefront of the development of green finance in Africa, helping private and public issuers of bonds and equity raise finance for sustainable projects. The intention of the Government to come up with a framework for fostering green finance is one of the measures to diversify the jurisdiction's product offering.

3.112. Along the same line, the Government of Mauritius is developing a Sustainable Financing Framework which will cater for the issuance of new product offerings in terms of green, blue or sustainability bonds on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Funds raised will be used for the financing of sustainable development projects, such as projects geared towards energy efficiency, clean transportation and sustainable waste management amongst others.