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The Legends :
BELLE-MARE PLAGE’S
The freedom of luxury
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A publication of Market Info Direct Mauritius Ltd Director of Publication/ Directeur de Publication Alan Leslie DUVAL E-mail : alan@marketinfodirect.com Personal Assistant Tamannah NAYECK Golf Advisor Gavin MINKLEY gavin@marketinfodirect.com Marketing Executive Charlotte Looker – Appapoulay charlotte@marketinfodirect.com Marketing Executive Alexis Looker alexis@marketinfodirect.com Graphic Concept/Création graphique Yannick Laroche Coralie E-mail : yannick@marketinfodirect.com Business Development Manager Dhinesh Rai Kallee E-mail : dhinesh@marketinfodirect.com Contributors / Collaborateurs Emotions Golf Events TEE-OFF Gabrielle Venter Pascaline Alexandre Shams heed Gilles Sooben Benz & Partners Photos / Crédit Photos Emotions Golf Events Photographer / Photographe Manoj Nawoor Printing & Distribution MacPrint Singapore (Pty) Ltd Daiichi Process Mauritius Ltd
MARKET INFO DIRECT MAURITIUS LTD 6th Floor, Victoria House Line Barracks Street Port-Louis, Mauritius Tel : 230 213 3399 Fax : 230 213 3342 E-mail:admin@marketinfodirect.com Web: www.swingtimegolf.co.za
The opinions expressed in Swingtime Mauritius and in the advertorials are not necessarily those of the publisher.
COPYRIGHT: SWINGTIME MAURITIUS ISSN No 1694-0687 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the publisher.
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Contents Sommaire
6 Cover Feature Belle Mare Plage Legends Golf Course
48 MPA
DODO 45 OPEN
Portrait 13 Swingtime Mr K. C. LI KWONG
WING
17 Ladies Swing 23 Valérie Espitaler
Advertorial Eurocape
Noël
Overview 27 Inaugural Oil Jetty Talk 31 Let’s Minister of youth and
sports
34 Let’s tee off
36
Benz & Partners view
40 Biz Bits Ams 43 Early Phil Minkley
45 Dodo Open 48 MPA cruise ship 53 Women in golf
Port-Louis as a hub for cruising
55 Nutrition 57 MCB tournament 60 Trends and tech
Interview 63 Raj Ramlakhan 66 Swing it! 69 Emotions Ladies Cup Post 71 Mauritius Chairman Interview
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s a game that originated from the
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in Tokyo took me to meet the owner of
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a large travel company, a rich man with many business interests. The plush office memorabilia, pictures and a small putting patch. During our introduction, the local rep mentioned that I play golf. The first question the gentleman asked was ‘What’s your handicap?’ And after that for 20 minutes it was only golf. At last when we talked shop it was like friends discussing business.”
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The Legends :
BELLE-MARE PLAGE’S
Opened in 1994, Legends Golf Course was the first 18 hole championship golf course to be regarded at an International level in Mauritius. Designed by Hugh Baiocchi, as a typical Parkland layout, the Legends course has an abundance of indigenous vegetation between fairways. 6
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Golfer’s paradise
Ouvert en 1994, le Legend est le premier parcours de golf 18-trous à avoir été aménagé pour la compétition à Maurice, selon les normes internationales. Hugh Baiocchi a opté pour un design “parkland” qui fait la part belle aux espaces verts que traversent les fairways, avec nombreux doglegs rythmant le parcours. Swingtime Swingtime - Issue - Issue 3 3
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pened in 1994, Legends Golf Course was the first 18 hole championship golf course to be regarded at an International level in Mauritius. Designed by Hugh Baiocchi, as a typical Parkland layout, the Legends course has an abundance of indigenous vegetation between fairways. This parkland layout course offers players the opportunity to use a variety of clubs off the tee, as accuracy is vital. Water comes into play on all 18 hole, this is where the players strategy and course management will be tested. This legendary golf course is a true test of your patience and golfing skills, keep the ball in play and you will score well. Legends has three teeing boxes (blue, white and yellow) for the men, and two tee boxes for the ladies (yellow and red), this resort course offers a challenge to all golfers the choice of tee box with a variation of difficulty on offer canto be selected for all levels of golfers. Results from the last 14 tournaments of the Mauritius open prove that Legends remains, despite modern golf equipment, one of the trickiest courses even for the best players around the globe. Legends has recently under gone a course facelift to satisfy the demands of an international standard golf course. The greens which were originally laid with Paspalam grass have been relayed with Tiffdauf Therefore greens which had a slightly slower roll have improved speeds in line with professional standards. Green speeds can now reach 12.5 on the stint meter now that’s fast!
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uvert en 1994, le Legend est le premier parcours de golf 18-trous à avoir été aménagé pour la compétition à Maurice, selon les normes internationales. Hugh Baiocchi a opté pour un design “parkland” qui fait la part belle aux espaces verts que traversent les fairways, avec nombreux doglegs rythmant le parcours. C’est ce qui fait d’ailleurs la particularité du concept “parkland”, qui privilégie les grands espaces ouverts et où la présence de grands arbres réduit les possibilités d’atténuer les doglegs. Ce qui, contrairement au design “links”, contraint le joueur à plus de précision par rapport à la direction et l’amplitude des coups à jouer. Le Legend est par ailleurs un des rares parcours de golf au monde ayant un obstacle d’eau à chaque trou. Des améliorations sont continuellement apportées au Legend afin qu’il soit au diapason des normes internationales exigées. C’est ainsi que le gazon paspalam, qui recouvrait initialement les greens, a été remplacé par du tiffdraff, pour permettre d’atteindre les vitesses des circuits professionnels. Le Legend dispose de trois départs différents pour les hommes : bleu, blanc et jaune. Pour les dames, il y a deux départs : jaune et rouge. Ce qui présente un réel challenge, aussi bien pour le golfeur débutant que pour le professionnel. Les scores des 14 précédentes éditions de l’Open de Maurice prouvent que le Legend reste malgré les équipements modernes, un des parcours les plus exigeants, même pour les meilleurs joueurs du globe. La grande végétation du parcours lui permet d’offrir en permanence des difficultés stratégiques. Il est parallèlement appelé à devenir un site écologique unique à l’île Maurice. Du point de vue de l’expérience golfique, le Legend dévoile progressivement ses secrets, ce qui incite à effectuer le parcours plusieurs fois. Cela permet en même temps au joueur d’améliorer son score puisque lorsqu’il se familiarise avec le circuit, il sait précisément à quels endroits les coups doivent être placés (et quelles zones sont à éviter...).
Golfer’s paradise
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Due to its vast vegetation, the course challenges players with strategic playing difficulties set within the unique environmental surroundings. Legends course requires players patience and it is recommended to have a local caddy with excellent course knowledge to guide you through this stern test of golf. Guaranteed to challenge the best of players! This parkland style golf course with high trees and shrubbery is a tactical challenge. Accurate course knowledge control and shot making are crucial for a successful round of golf.
fig tree which provides shade from the intense sun. A par 3 measuring 150 meters from the back tees. 7 iron shot over the lagoon to a green surrounded by water. Making 3 on this hole will always be remembered. The charm of Legends is defined by a variety: no hole resembles another. It is a course with a soul that distinguishes itself distinctly from other courses. Legends is a course a player will always remember…
Environment
This resort has been the pioneer in golf bringing golfers from all corners of the globe to enjoy a truly memorable experience…
When developing the Legends course, not only was it essential that the course meets international golf course standards, but also to protect the vast range of flora and fauna in the selected region. More than 90 percent of the plants found on course are indigenous; the same apply for the animals. Non indigenous plants such as Bougainvilliers and Alamandas have been planted in strategic points throughout the course. This was to provide specific landmarks of colors which allow the player to visually focus on his target and hit effectively. Legends is the only golf course on the island which has the oldest and biggest Filaos trees, Flamboyant, Baobabs and Banyans. To enrich the course the fertilizer laid is purely organic as to preserve the environment in which the course has been laid. Signature hole The signature 17th hole is truly a beautiful challenge with a splendid view over the lagoon. Standing on the tee player’s are protected by a large
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Golfer’s paradise
Sur les parcours de type “links”, ce sont plutôt les éléments naturels, tel que le vent, qui exigent une tactique spontanée et improvisée, alors que sur les parcours “parkland”, c’est la connaissance exacte du parcours et surtout le contrôle des coups à jouer qui sont décisifs et récompensés. C’est pourquoi les très bons joueurs préfèrent en général les circuits “parkland” pour démontrer leur savoir-faire. Eco-golfique Le Legend a été conçu dans le souci d’offrir un site satisfaisant les normes golfiques internationales, tout en respectant l’environnement. Cela concerne surtout la végétation et la faune de l’île Maurice. Plus de 90 % des plantes qui se trouvent sur le parcours sont endémiques. On y croise également de nombreux animaux, notamment le cerf. Les plantes exotiques, tels que bougainvilliers ou alamanda, n’ont été placées que pour le côté stratégique, c’est-à-dire pour fournir des repères de couleurs permettant au joueur de pouvoir viser des cibles pour placer ses coups. Le Legend est aussi le seul parcours de l’île ayant de très vieux, et donc de très grands filaos, flamboyants, baobabs, banians etc. Les engrais utilisés sur le parcours sont dans une grande mesure des produits purement organiques et non synthétiques, afin de préserver l’environnement également au-delà des limites du parcours. Le Legend offre donc non seulement un challenge golfique de taille, mais également une rencontre avec la faune et la flore exceptionnelles de l’île Maurice.
Principaux trous Le trou le plus célèbre est le 17, un par 3 avec un green en forme d’île, avec une vue splendide sur le lagon et un immense flamboyant offrant de l’ombre au joueur sur le départ. Le charme du Legend se trouve dans la variété : aucun trou ne ressemble à un autre. C’est un parcours avec une âme, qui se distingue nettement des designs en “va-et-vient”. Le Legend est un parcours dont le joueur se souviendra toujours. Œuvre pionnière Le Legend a toujours fait œuvre de pionnier à Maurice. Exemples : • Il a été le premier circuit à disposer d’une académie de golf animée par un joueur professionnel de renommée internationale : Marc Farry. • C’est le premier parcours à Maurice doté d’un système d’irrigation contrôlé par ordinateur et permettant d’appliquer les engrais directement par l’arrosage. • Le Legend est également le premier parcours doté du système GPS. • Il est le premier golf à avoir utilisé l’hydroject, système qui permet d’injecter de l’eau sous haute pression en profondeur, sans abîmer la surface du terrain.
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by Government to make investments in the global markets. He set up the first Property Fund and the first Regional Headquarters Company in Mauritius and also listed the first foreign company on the local Stock Exchange. He was formerly the Economic Adviser to the Minister of Finance and the Chairman of the Stock Exchange Commission, which was the predecessor of the present Financial Services Commission. Recently, KC has edited a Souvenir Book on 20 years of global or offshore business in Mauritius and is currently serving as President of the Association of Trust and Management Companies. 1) In your opinion what does Mauritius have to offer foreign investors? Mauritius has some of the best, most comprehensive and modern legislations coupled with an attractive fiscal regime with a unique set of Double tax Treaties. It by Charlotte Looker has developed a truly world class financial and banking infrastructure as well as a pool of expertise to provide financial services that are now of global standard. Mauritius has managed to strike a right balance between regulation and investment attractiveness, with the advantage of competitive business costs. The Mauritius tax regime is one of the lowest in the world and the fiscal incentives include the following: • Corporate and income tax of 15% ( which can be substantially reduced) • Tax free dividends • No capital gains tax • 100% foreign ownership • Free repatriation of profits, dividends and capital • No withholding tax on interest, dividends & royalties. • No minimum foreign capital required • An extensive tax treaty network with 33 countries
Mr K. C. LI KWONG WING K.C. Li Kwong Wing ( or KC Li as he is better known) is the Chairman of Mauritius International Trust Co. Ltd (MITCO), one of the first offshore management companies to be licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius. MITCO provides a full range of corporate, trust and fund services – this month, KC provided us with some valuable insight in regards to why foreigners should invest in Mauritius. Sharing his extensive wealth of knowledge and experience with us, he conjures up one portfolio not to be missed. Over the fifteen years of steady expansion, MITCO has built a reputation for being an efficient and cost effective “one stop shop” in Mauritius for continuously providing innovative solutions in International Tax and Global Estate Planning, Trust and Fiduciary Services, Fund Structuring & Administration and last but not least, Back Office Accounting & Administration Facilities. Mr. Li is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to Investment and Doing Business in Mauritius. This month we have extended our normal portfolio issue as the expertise K.C has to share is so valuable to any person interested in making use of Mauritius as a base or hub for investments and operating business in the Africa-Asia Region. Among the many pioneering enterprises of KC, he launched and managed the first Unit Trust in Mauritius - which was also the first Fund authorised
2) In these times of financial crisis why is it a good time to invest here now? In these turbulent and uncertain times, investors should be cautious and evaluate the investment options carefully prior to making any investment decisions. Having said that, the stock market of Mauritius has witnessed a severe correction and some of the blue chips companies are offering a good value for money, especially the Hotel Groups and some conglomerates.
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••• Swingtime portrait The property market has been opened up to foreigners since two years now, and there has been a pent-up demand from regular tourists from Europe who have been waiting to buy a second or third home in the tropics, and from residents of South Africa and Zimbabwe who are looking for a nearby safe haven for their families. The current credit crunch is putting a brake on the unrealistic soaring asking prices for the lands that are being offered to foreigners. Here again as with some stock picking on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, the time may be right for acquisition of some lots of prime residential and commercial land near the coastline. 3) Please tell us how MITCO became the leading Trust Company that it is today: One of our success factors is that MITCO is a truly independent multi-disciplinary firm. Through its strategic alliance with professional firms in other prime jurisdictions in the Channel Islands, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, MITCO is able to offer multi-jurisdictional products and services. The success of MITCO can also be attributed to our constant drive to acquire new expertise and skills to service our high profile clients. In this context, during the last 5 years, we had appointed 2 high calibre expatriates namely James Bette-Bennett and John Harper successively to head our firm. James was a former Director of EFG Reads in Jersey while John was the former MD of Appleby Trust Group in Bermuda. This has led to the upgrading of skills of our staff and the building up of an outstanding in house team of over 30 local and expatriate professional accountants and lawyers with many years of handson experience, gained in Mauritius and other IFCs.
4) Where are the key areas for foreign investment? Mauritius has all the necessary ingredients to attract foreigner investors (especially from the region, particularly South African) to its shores. With the ease of obtaining residence permits and business licences within 3 working days, I think that investments in luxury villas and upmarket apartments within the existing schemes (namely the Integrated Resort Scheme and Real Estate Schemes) are golden opportunities for foreigners wanting to relocate to Mauritius or just looking for a holiday resort investment. In particular, there is an immense scope for property developers who are ready to invest to cater for the increasing demands of High Net Worth families from India and China for a quiet lifestyle family home outside their homeland.
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Furthermore, health tourism is set to grow in the coming years and hence, many opportunities exist for the setting up of world-class wellness centres and spas, ayurvedic health clinics and specialised medical treatment and rehabilitation centres. The multi-cultural and multi-lingual background of our local population is also conducive to the development of a knowledge and cultural hub of world-class universities and training institutes in the region for the training of professionals in languages, law, humanities, finance, health sciences, agricultural research and marine biology. Other areas of great potential for investments are in business process outsourcing, IT enabled services and media and digital entertainment, given our state of the art infrastructure in telecommunications and IT parks. Last, but not least, with the introduction of comprehensive new regulations on the Trust, Securities and Funds industry, Mauritius has strong potential to broaden and expand its financial services to serve the region as the “offshore” finance centre of Africa. 5) Why should foreigners consult or invest with MITCO over other companies? We do not like to blow our own trumpet, but we have been acting as a ‘one stop shop’ for foreign investors since the very start of global and offshore business in Mauritius. We have the most experienced team of senior professionals who have worked at the highest level in Governments, in international financial institutions, in reputed foreign law firms and accounting practices, and in private banking & Trust Groups. We have a solid track record and a portfolio of prime corporate clients and business families who would rather use our services even when they are compelled to make use of world-wide so-called big names. We are not the biggest, but we’ll go the extra mile to be your best partner. By the way, as we sadly note, no one is too big to fail in these days. What we are better known for is to have done several firsts in Mauritius, namely to have set up the first unit trust, the first property fund, the first Regional Headquarters Company, and also to have listed the first foreign company on the Mauritius Stock Exchange. This shows that we can pioneer new ventures and introduce new services to offer tailormade value-added solutions to satisfy client needs.
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6) In what direction do you see the future of MITCO heading? MITCO has the ambition to become a leading world-class financial services provider in Mauritius and in a couple of financial centres. Our clients have expanded their operations far and wide and are insisting that we follow them by providing our efficient and expert services in a seamless manner across their global operations. This opens up bright opportunities for MITCO to expand overseas, though our prime interest is still to provide the innovative “all in one” service offerings to the many Asian business groups which are looking to penetrate the African market and the regional HNW private clients looking for a safe haven for their families and assets in and through Mauritius. 7) Please tell us more about your recent projects and achievements: I’m currently serving as President of the Association of Trust and Management Companies. In this capacity, I have edited last year in 2008, a Souvenir Book on 20 years of global or offshore business in Mauritius. The production of this book of memory has given me great satisfaction, as I was very privileged to be associated with the immense task of reforming our financial system in the early 80’s. First, as economic adviser to the Minister of Finance engaged in policy formulation and implementation of that financial liberalization process, to the extent of challenging Bretton Woods institutional wisdom on their negative view of the potentials of offshore business for Mauritius. Later, in the early 90’s, as Chairman of a financial regulator, the Stock Exchange Commission which was later
absorbed into the Financial Services Commission, tasked to oversee the smooth enforcement of the licensing, supervision and regulatory powers of the institution, while supporting initiatives for electronic trading and clearing, listing of foreign companies and funds, partnership with foreign exchanges for making Mauritius a regional hub for offshore financial services. In the end, I moved to the other side of the barrier to join the “real world” and have now an even greater privilege to preside over the affairs of our professional association. This is an extraordinary vantage point from which I saw the sea-change of the sector from all quarters, since the humble beginnings of 1988, when the first offshore bank was established! Today, the skyline of our capital city bears the mark of the presence of many of the prestigious investment funds and international financial institutions of the US and Europe. All the largest Indian and South African corporations also have a presence here. A new administrative cybercity and several business parks have lately emerged outside Port Louis with intelligent buildings to cater to the needs of an expanding offshore finance sector. And there is more to come, with the massive capital and trade flows between Africa and Asia, needing a secure and tax-efficient base for structuring and channeling these flows, as Mauriitus continues to carve a reputable niche in the financial services world, not only as the single largest investor in India, and at one time in Indonesia too, but also as a wellregulated jurisdiction of integrity, never branded as a harmful tax haven by the OECD, the FATF and the UN. K.C Li is currently member of Board of Directors of several Emerging Market Funds, including the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, South Asia Real Estate Fund & Value Partners China Hedge Fund.
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Eurocape The Founder and Managing Director of Eurocape Property Finance, Matthew Manchin shares with Swing Time his vast experience spanning over the past 20 years. A now semi retired 36 year old man, Mr Manchin tells of his career in the world of financial services, as well as his new and promising company which is expanding throughout the Globe. Mr Manchin not only works on building properties for his clients, he builds long lasting relationships with them.
Matthew Manchin, what is Eurocape about?
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“Eurocape Property Finance, founded in 2006, is a financial vehicle, similar to a bank or any lending institution, whereby we take money off the retail investors in the UK & Europe and pension schemes. We then package that money and lend it to property developers in SA, Eastern Europe and Mauritius. We operate like a typical bank but the benefits we offer investors are that they will receive a return of 9.85% p.a. during the five years of the investment. At the end of the 5 years, any surplus of the profit over and above 9.85% is then distributed to the investor after charges. It is a very innovative product that allows investors to participate in lending money to the developer and at the same time getting far higher return than they would receive on a normal bank account. However the risk to the investor is very limited because we take a first charge over every asset that we lend money to. We only lend up to an 80% loan to value, which means the property prices have got to drop more than 20% first to be exposed to the loan.” How do you choose your clients? How do you decide to whom you will lend the money? “First we obtain an independent evaluation of the site. We then have discussions with local estate agents to see what the marketability of the project is, we do background checks on the borrower, typically what you would expect any bank to do. However because we are a small lender, we do that process very quickly which enables us to make a decision in a very short period of time. When you are offering bridging finance and development finance this is something very important to do. Again from a risk perspective, what the current global credit crunch has actually demonstrated is that most people assume
Mi-retraité à l’âge de 36 ans, Matthew Manchin est le fondateur et Managing Director d’Eurocape Property Finance. Cet homme d’affaires au brillant parcours partage avec nous ses longues années d’expérience dans le monde financier et rappelle l’engagement de sa nouvelle compagnie qu’il développe à l’échelle planétaire. Matthew ne se cantonne pas au développement des biens immobiliers, mais s’attèle à établir de relations de confiance durables avec ses clients. Vous êtes le fondateur et Managing Director d’Eurocape. Expliquez-nous son fonctionnement? Eurocape Propery Finance a été lancée en 2006 comme un véhicule financier identique à celui d’une banque ou d’une institution de financements. Concrètement, Eurocape emprunte de l’argent des investisseurs européens qu’elle constitue en enveloppe financière pour prêter aux développeurs fonciers en Afrique du Sud, en Europe de l’Est et à Maurice. Nous opérons comme une banque classique à la différence que les investisseurs peuvent toucher un retour sur investissement de 9,85% annuellement durant les premiers cinq ans. Après cette période, tout surplus de profits supérieur à 5,85% sera distribué à l’investisseur après déduction des frais. C’est un produit novateur dont le risque est limité pour l’investisseur dans la mesure où nous garantissons tous les actifs. Nous offrons seulement 80% de la valeur du prêt, ce qui signifie que les prix de l’immobilier doivent baisser de plus de 20% pour que l’institution soit exposée. Selon quels critères choisissez-vous les clients susceptibles de bénéficier de vos prêts ? Il y a d’abord une évaluation du site. Par la suite, nous avons des discussions avec les agents immobiliers pour cerner la valeur commerciale de ces projets. De plus, nous étudions le profil financier du client, ce que toute banque commerciale doit faire. Par ailleurs, vu que nous sommes une petite agence de financement, nous réalisons cet exercice assez rapidement pour qu’on puisse prendre une décision sur la solvabilité du demandeur. D’ailleurs, c’est un élément crucial du “bridging finance” ou encore du “development finance”. Il faut dire que dans une perspective de risque, ce que la crise financière globale nous a démontré, c’est que la plupart de gens estiment que quand on dépose de l’argent dans une banque, celle-ci l’utilise pour le prêter au voisin afin de l’aider à acheter une maison. Ce qui implique un minimum de risque. Mais cela n’a pas été le cas. La grosse majorité de banques a emprunté davantage d’argent et utilisé les dépôts du
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Business perspective
that when you put your money into a bank, the bank then uses your money to lend to the man that lives next door to you for him to buy your house, which would seem a very low risk. However, what has been demonstrated is that most banks then go and borrow more money and use your money as a deposit to do so. Hence this is why the banking industry is in such a problem that we’ve got now. What Eurocape has refused to do is that we have never geared or leveraged the fund, we only lend what our deposit base is which makes it a very low risk institution.” Once you have selected a prospective client what is your next step? “With every loan that Eurocape enters into, a director or advisor to our company has physically been on that site. We make it a must to visit the project, we have advisors in SA and Eastern Europe who go and do that process for us. 9 times out of 10, a director of Eurocape will have visited the site and have an individual meeting with the borrower. We don’t lend via brokers, we only do the lending directly to the borrower. We view ourselves as how a traditional bank would operate in the 1970’s where the bank manager actually knew his customer. It may seem old fashioned but that’s the best way to lend money as you know exactly who you are dealing with. The global credit crunch actually benefited Eurocape as there is now a shortage of money on the market place. We have now realized that money is a valuable commodity so we use the scarcity to obtain an equity portion out of the development at no cost. So we will lend money to a property developer, we will then negotiate the terms of our loan and as a bonus to our investors we will take an equity stake of 20% on the project. We will also insist on a director of Eurocape becoming a director of the project developer and we insist on a joint mandate on the bank account. In that way we know exactly what the developer is doing with our money.” In how many countries are you present? “We lend money in Romania, Bulgaria, UK, SA is our main market and recently Mauritius where we are looking at different forms of development: commercial, hotels and apartments mainly.” What is your personal opinion of the investment potential in Mauritius? “What is exciting about Mauritius, and this is why we want to make more business here, is that it is a good growing economy, excellent corporate governance and in all the surveys it is always rated as the most politically stable country in Africa, which I believe makes it very attractive to investors.”
client pour ce faire. D’où la crise à laquelle l’industrie bancaire est confrontée à l’échelle planétaire. Eurocape a toujours refusé de d’utiliser les fonds pour des emprunts à effet de levier. Nous prêtons selon le montant de nos dépôts, positionnant ainsi l’institution comme la moins risquée dans le cadre d’une transaction bancaire. Comment procédez-vous une fois le client choisi ? Pour chaque transaction impliquant des prêts d’Eurocape, un de nos directeurs ou conseillers financiers aura déjà visité physiquement le site. Nous mettons un point d’honneur à le faire par le biais de notre réseau de conseillers en Afrique du Sud et en Europe de l’Est. Nous attachons une grande importance à des rencontres personnalisées avec le client. Car nous ne prêtons de l’argent qu’à travers des courtiers, nous ne le faisons pas directement au client. Nous opérons comme une banque traditionnelle des années 70, où le manager connaît bien son client. Cela peut paraître démodé, mais je considère que c’est la meilleure façon de prêter de l’argent. Il va sans dire que la crise de crédits profite aujourd’hui à Eurocape vu qu’il existe une pénurie d’argent sur le marché. Nous avons réalisé que l’argent demeure aujourd’hui une commodité valable, d’où notre démarche de participer à l’actionnariat du projet. En clair, nous prêtons de l’argent à un promoteur immobilier, nous négocions les termes du prêt et comme un bonus aux investisseurs, nous prenons une part aux capitaux, soit à hauteur de 20%. Parallèlement, nous insistons qu’un directeur d’Eurocape soit nommé membre au sein du projet de développement. Nous veillons aussi à ce que la compagnie gère conjointement le compte du client, une manière de connaître exactement le mouvement de fonds de ce dernier. Dans combien de pays Eurocape est-elle présente ? Nous prêtons de l’argent en Roumanie, en Bulgarie, au Royaume-Uni et en Afrique du Sud, qui demeure notre principal marché. Nous nous appuyons sur notre présence à Maurice pour chercher de nouveaux projets de développement notamment dans des secteurs liés au commerce, à l’hôtellerie et aux résidences. Quelle évaluation faites-vous des possibilités d’investissements à Maurice ? Maurice dispose d’une économie en pleine croissance. C’est une des raisons qui nous incite à faire du business ici. De plus, les pratiques de bonne
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Business perspective
Is it important for you to build solid relationships with your investors? “I have been involved in financial services since 1988 and I’ve ran my own businesses since the mid 90’s. I actually founded Eurocape after selling my former financial businesses in 2004 and I semiretired to SA. So you don’t deal with people’s money for 20 years without building up trust and what’s been a great thing for myself is that a very important percentage of the original investors in Eurocape were actually people I know. The fact that they are still willing to work with me is a great testament of dealing with them for 20 years. My business philosophy is: I would rather lend money over the next 10 years to the same group of developers, because you know exactly how they operate, you build a relationship with them and this relationship prospers through time. And part of the problem in world banking is that the borrower is intimidated by the bank. If you can have a relationship with the borrower where he can actually ring you and say “We have a problem, how do we get ourselves through it?” And sometimes you have to be willing to throw more money at a problem to see yourself through it. Typically, the guy who is dealing with a faceless bank is scared to tell the bank that he made a mistake or has a problem because he is worried of foreclosure. Sometimes when I am writing checks to investors, to whom we send a 9,85% payment every June and I still enjoy the fact that I recognize the names on the checks that I countersign and I think to myself, “How many big financial institutions can say that?” That shows the close relationship between the people who operate the fund, the investor and the end user. It’s a relationship driven business which I find very important.”
Tell us a bit more about how Eurocape was created “The way Eurocape was developed is quite interesting actually… In my financial services business we would always get a lot of tax advisory work, investment planning mainly in the UK. I was always involved in property on a personal capacity and I bought property in SA. There I started off by lending my own money to small time property guys and charging them interest. And I started thinking to myself that there was a business to develop there. And my main motivation to set Eurocape up was that I knew from my financial services background that investors and pension scheme in particular need high yield low risk assets to fit into a portfolio. Eurocape could achieve that by taking money from the public for 5 years, and you need to do it on that period
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gouvernance au niveau des entreprises et la stabilité politique dont le pays jouit en Afrique font qu’il attire des investisseurs. Est-il important d’établir des relations solides avec vos investisseurs ? Bien entendu. J’ai été impliqué dans les services financiers depuis 1988 et j’ai dirigé mes propres entreprises depuis mi-90. J’ai lancé Eurocape après avoir vendu mes entreprises en 2004 et je me suis offert une mi-retraite en Afrique du Sud. On ne gère pas l’argent des gens pendant une vingtaine d’années sans une vraie relation de confiance. D’ailleurs, ce qui a constitué un véritable atout pour moi, c’est que bon nombre d’investisseurs qui ont choisi de traiter avec Eurocape sont des gens que je connaissais déjà. Et le fait qu’ils soient toujours avec moi témoigne de cette confiance. Ma philosophie dans la vie est simple : je suis disposé à prêter au même groupe d’investisseurs pendant les prochains dix ans vu que je suis parfaitement au courant de la façon dont ils opèrent. C’est une question de confiance mutuelle. Aujourd’hui, force est de constater que l’emprunteur est souvent intimidé par sa banque. Si on développe des relations avec sa banque à tel point qu’on peut téléphoner à son banquier et lui dire qu’on a un problème et qu’il faut se concerter pour trouver une solution, c’est dans l’intérêt de toutes les parties concernées. Il est évident que quelqu’un qui traite avec une banque inhumaine éprouvera de l’appréhension pour lui dire qu’il a commis une erreur. Des fois, il m’arrive en signant des chèques pour les investisseurs à qui nous payons de bénéfices de 9,85% au mois de juin chaque année, de reconnaître le nom de la personne et je me pose une simple question : combien d’institutions financières peuvent en dire autant ? Cela démontre cette relation de confiance entre les gestionnaires de fonds, les investisseurs et le “end user”. Parlez-nous de la création d’Eurocape ? La manière dont Europe a été développée est en fait très intéressante. Dans mes activités de services financiers, j’ai eu beaucoup de travail lié à la fiscalité et au planning d’investissement, notamment au Royaume-Uni. J’ai toujours évolué dans l’immobilier et à titre personnel j’en ai acheté en Afrique du Sud. Dès lors, j’ai commencé à prêter mes propres fonds à des amis engagés dans l’immobilier en percevant des intérêts. J’ai alors pensé qu’il existait des opportunités d’affaires à développer. Ma principale motivation de mettre en place Eurocape est que je savais, par rapport à mon background de services financiers, que les investisseurs recherchent des
Business perspective
because you don’t need to worry about liquidity to repay the investors on a monthly basis and you can give back a nice stable return to them. “ What was the response Eurocape received from the South African Authorities? “When we established Eurocape in SA, some members of the government appreciated what we were trying to do because we specialize there in affordable housing, that is housing for people with very moderate to low income. There is a huge housing demand in SA and the developers we deal with generally are selling units starting from R25000 up to 60000. Lots of people told me they find it amazing that it takes investors from the UK to kick start some affordable housing schemes in SA.” What are your main projects there? “We are involved in some big housing schemes in SA, namely three housing schemes of 4000 units each and we have some big projects in Cape Town too and we have anticipated that possibly over the next 5 years, Eurocape will have been instrumental in the creation of about 25000 affordable houses in SA. It’s quite interesting because on one hand it is a good investment for us and as one of my co-director said, “It feels good to see that you are making some good with other people’s money.” Of course we are not a charitable institution but it’s nice to see that we contribute in the development of people’s lives. “ And what about Eurocape’s achievements in other countries? “In Bulgaria for instance we financed a 300 bedrooms 5 stars resort on the Black Sea, we are also involved in some small domestic housing schemes there too and shortly we will start working in Brazil. We like working in emerging economies because one thing you can guarantee is that when people’s financial status improves, there are two things they want in life: their own house and their own car… Most successful investing is really down to economics, if the economics of the country are right and you have a develop who has a nice piece of land and his prices structure is correct, there is no reason why it shouldn’t work.”
actifs dans un portefeuille qui dispose de très peu de risques mais qui génère un taux de rendement élevé. Eurocape a pu réaliser cela en prenant des dépôts des membres du public pour une période de maturité de 5 ans, une période relativement longue pour pouvoir faire fructifier cet argent. Quel a été l’accueil réservé à Eurocape ? Quand nous avons lancé Eurocape en Afrique du Sud, de nombreux membres du gouvernement ont apprécié la démarche, dans la mesure où la compagnie se spécialisait dans la construction de maisons destinées à ceux qui ont des revenus modestes, voire bas. Il y a une grosse demande en Afrique du Sud pour des maisons. Les promoteurs avec qui nous traitons vendent des unités de logement à partir de 25 000 rands et ce jusqu’à 60 000 rands. Certaines personnes ont trouvé surprenant que ce soient des investisseurs britanniques qui agissent comme catalyseurs pour lancer des projets de construction de maisons abordables en Afrique du Sud. Quels sont vos principaux projets en Afrique du Sud ? Nous sommes engagés dans de gros chantiers de résidences, notamment trois projets de 4000 unités de logement chacun. Nous avons d’autres projets à Cape Town et nous avons estimé que d’ici à 5 ans, Eurocape sera impliquée dans la construction de 25 000 maisons en Afrique du Sud. Une démarche que nous considérons comme étant positive car ce sont des investissements porteurs. Un de mes co-directeurs a l’habitude de dire qu’il est sain de voir que nous faisons quelque chose de bien avec l’argent d’autrui. Bien-sûr, nous ne sommes pas une institution charitable mais nous contribuons à l’amélioration de la vie de la population. Qu’en est-il des réalisations d’Eurocape dans d’autres pays ? En Bulgarie, nous avons financé la construction d’un hôtel 5-étoiles de 300 chambres. Nous y avons d’autres projets de construction de maisons. Et très prochainement, nous mettrons le cap sur le Brésil pour de nouveaux projets. Nous aimons travailler dans des pays à économie émergente car il est évident que quand la situation financière de la population s’améliorera, il ya deux choses qu’elle souhaiterait avoir dans la vie : une maison décente et une voiture.
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Portrait
Valérie Espitalier Noël The Grand Mother of Golf… Swingtime magazine presents to you Mauritius very own ‘Grand Mother of Golf’. A third generation female golfer Valérie Espitalier Noël is a pioneer for female golfers in Mauritius. As a woman in her 70’s Valérie posses the same energy and passion for golf that she held during her championship years.
La doyenne du golf…
by Charlotte Looker
Le magazine Swingtime vous emmène à la rencontre d’une golfeuse légendaire. Elle se prénomme Valérie Espitalier Noël. Sa passion et son énergie contagieuse a fait d’elle, une des figures incontournable du golf mauricien. Troisième génération d’une famille passionnée de golf, elle est une des pionnières du golf féminin à Maurice.
Valérie’s mother and grandmother were Ainsi sa mère et sa grandboth members of the mère l’ont inculqué la culture Gymkhana Club the first du golf alors qu’elles étaient established golf club in membres du plus vieux Mauritius. Stretching club de Golf dans l’île, le over two decades from Gymkhana Club (s’étendant 1966 – 1986, Valérie sur deux décennies de holds the greatest 1966-1986). Tout comme amount of winning ses aïeux, Valérie a hérité titles at Gymkhana d’un esprit de compétition for Ladies Matchplay féroce – la preuve, elle and Strokeplay détient le plus grand Champioships and her palmarès au Gymkhana grandmother and mother dans la catégorie des were also championship Winner of the charity cup in 2002 Windsor Castle - England dames pour le championnat winners. “I began to de Match Play et Strokeplay. play when I was twenty. At that time I would say we ‘ J’ai commencé à jouer au golf à l’âge de 20 ans. A weren’t any more then 15 – 20 ladies. Now there cette époque, nous n’étions pas plus de 20 dames are about 80 female members. In Mauritius you can à s’adonner à ce sport. Aujourd’hui, nous sommes play in a competition every week as now there are so plus de 80 femmes à pratiquer le golf autour de l’île. many clubs. Whereas you couldn’t do that before.” De plus, avec le nombre grandissant de terrain de Valérie believes in creating more opportunities golf, nous pourrons en pratiquer toutes les semaines to encourage the youth and younger woman to join ». the golfing community. “We started the Ladies Golf En ce qui concerne la popularité du sport, la Union 3 years ago and now we have an annual doyenne du golf mauricien est optimiste. ‘ Il nous faut
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••• Portrait general meeting. We have about 85 members from all the clubs and people whom aren’t even members of clubs. I would encourage all the female golfers to join our Union.” Valérie has been travelling abroad in tournaments for many years having played in tournaments in Madagascar, France and South Africa. “We used to go overseas to play on a good course but now with the hotels, the courses here are just as good as anywhere else.” She believes golf should be a game for everybody to enjoy. “Admittedly in any country golf is a very expensive game. But all the caddys for the hotels are given golf clubs from the guests and then they play golf. All the golf competitions are more or less open to everyone. Nobody refuses anybody for colour, creed or sex.”
d’avantage encourager les jeunes et les femmes à rejoindre la communauté des golfeurs. Dans cette optique nous avons lancé l’Union Golf pour les
Valérie believes the role golf plays in business is very important. “I think a lot of people meet through the net work of golf. You can learn about what people’s characters are like by playing golf. When you are walking with someone for 5 hours you
Air France Trophey
Le Paradis Golf Course
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dames, il y a plus de trois ans et nous organisons non seulement des compétitions chaque mois, mais avons aussi une Assemblée générale annuelle. Nous sommes plus de 85 membres adhérents de différents clubs à travers l’île ainsi que des non membres. J’encourage donc les golfeuses à nous rejoindre surtout celles qui ne font pas partie d’un club» explique Valérie. La golfeuse compte une riche carrière dans le sport non seulement à Maurice, mais aussi dans plusieurs pays étrangers tels que Madagascar, la France, l’Afrique du Sud et l’Ile de la Réunion entre autres. ‘ Auparavant, nous devions voyager pour profiter d’un bon terrain de golf. Les temps ont changé, et les parcours de golf qu’offrent les hôtels sont aussi bons que ceux à l’étranger » souligne la passionnée. Selon Valérie, le golf doit être un sport accessible à tout le monde. « Ce n’est pas un secret que le golf est un sport coûteux, mais à Maurice, toutes les compétitions sont ouvertes, cela mise à part le handicap, la couleur de peau et la religion entre autres » ajoute-t-elle. Pour la supernanny, le golf est non seulement un sport physique, mais aussi mental dans la logique qu’il nous permet d’en savoir plus sur l’état d’esprit du joueur. « C’est facile après 5 heures sur un terrain de golf de connaître les traits de caractère
Portrait learn their mentality and their outlook and if they are genuine. Also people will tell you that you have to learn to be adventuress and courageous and you have to take decisions when you’re playing golf – like you have to in business.” When asked if she will retire her answer comes with a laugh. “Not until I can’t walk! I enjoy playing golf because it keeps you in contact with people and keeps you young.”
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d’une personne, sa mentalité et sa manière de voir les choses. Il est indéniable que le golf forge notre caractère en nous rendant plus fort, plus courageuse et prêt à affronter les défis » soutient-elle. En ce qui concerne la question d’une prochaine retraite, Valérie nous lance avec un rire moqueur que « Tant que je marcherai, je pratiquerais le golf. J’éprouve un immense plaisir à jouer car cela me permet de garder un esprit jeune » conclut-elle
ard & Valerie
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row)VS Mauritius team (front
Madagascar team (
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italier Noë & Valérie Esp
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Overview
Inauguration of the Oil Jetty
“A safe and efficient port is therefore not only vital but sine qua non for our economic wellbeing” Xavier Luc Duval
The inauguration of the Oil Jetty was held at Mer Rouge on the 12th of November 2008. The project was the culmination of over 28 months of continuous hard work since its approval in 2005. The Mauritius Port Authority is ensuring that there is effective development in the supply chain which can adapt to global trends and give quality services to the international Maritime community. Maritime transport is by nature a risky activity with the handling and storage of harmful goods including petroleum products and other related materials. The Port Louis Harbor is therefore not secured from risk and damage as a result of an increase in the economic activity in the port. The surrounding community as well as the environment is also not shielded taking into consideration the increase volume of petroleum and other dangerous products that are being handled in the port. “The Port area is accommodating more than 52 port based operators and companies. It is an undeniable fact that the Port is now a high and condensed risk area in the country” said Xavier Luc Duval vice Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, Leisure & External Communications. According to him, due to the distance from our main export markets, special attention should be given to the supply chain by reducing costs, optimizing infrastructure and respecting the environment. “Our development strategy is inextricably linked to growth in that sector. A safe and efficient port is therefore not only vital but sine qua non for our economic wellbeing. It also provides us with reliable and resilient trade connections world wide” Xavier Luc Duval explained. The project for the construction of this Oil Jetty is the result of several studies commissioned by the Mauritius Port Authority in partnership with the Master Plan Consultants, the World Bank and the Oil Industry. The objective was to identify ways and means to handle and store high-risk products in safer and
more secure manners. According to Shekur Suntah, general director of the Mauritius Port Authority, “The studies have concluded that there was an urgent need to relocate the Class A storage near Roche Bois to a remote location away from the residential areas and strategic installations. Furthermore, the consultants have recommended the construction of a dedicated petroleum jetty in the English channel, nearer the open sea”. And regarding the requirements and specifications of the infrastructure, the Vice Prime minister, Xavier Luc Duval added “The design and structure of the quay, the handling methods, safety and security aspects and even the financing of the project were chalked out in such a way as to ensure that the oil jetty would be operated in line with international standards and guidelines whilst taking special care to environmental factors, together with mitigating measures in case of emergency.” About the Oil Jetty at Mer Rouge: Port Louis Harbour handles around 1.1 million metric tonnes of petroleum products annually, comprising White Oil (Motor Gasoline, Gas Oil and Jet Aviation Fuel), Fuel Oil and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG). Imports of these products are expected to increase over the next decade. At present, petroleum products are being uploaded at different locations in the port area. With a view of reducing risk and enhancing safety, Mauritius Ports Authority has constructed an oil jetty at Mer Rouge from the inner port. • The contract for the construction of the oil Jetty was awarded to Messrs, Afcons Limited and Indian Construction Company in May 2006. • The project has been implemented at a cost of about 600 million of rupees • The oil jetty has a capacity of about 4 million metric tonnes per annum • The oil Jetty is equipped with 8 pipelines namely: 1. 1 white oil pipeline( 12inch diameter), equipped with a Motor Operated Valve ( MOV), complete with all accessories, connected to the existing white oil pipeline and storage tanks 2. 1 LPG pipieline (10 inch diameter), complete with a vapour return line up to the land fall point of the oil jetty and equipped with a MOV and all accessories. The connecting LPG line from the landfall point of the jetty to the existing network will be installed by ESCOL. 3. 2 ethanol pipelines of 200mm diameter each and 2 vent pipes of 50 mm diameter 4. 4 pipelines (mogas, DPK, gasoil and fuel oil) installed by Indian Oil Corporation. The fuel oil pipeline can also be used for bunkering.
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Golf fashion
Golf Fashion Polo orange et noir allié au pantalon orange et à une boucle de ceinture dans les mêmes coloris, voici pour lui la vague orange revisitée par Masters Golf Fashion (collection 2009).
Bermuda blanc agrémenté de petits pois noirs accompagné d’un top noir aux coutures apparentes et ses boutons blancs de taille non commune font de cette ensemble très original un bel exercice de style Masters Golf Fashion (collection 2009). Ces photos nous ont été fournies par Emotions Golf Events représentant exclusif des marques de vêtements, MASTERS GOLF-FASHION, DAILY SPORTS et ROHNISCH, à l’île Maurice. Swingtime Swingtime - Issue - Issue 3 3
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Golf Fashion L’originalité de ce bermuda ravira les plus sportifs, ce top rayé jaune et blanc et son impression dans un gris très discret allie parfaitement effort et confort Masters Golf Fashion (collection 2009).
Ce gris cendré orné de rayures pour le pantacourt ainsi que ce top dans des tons identiques, c’est l’élégance dans la simplicité Masters Golf Fashion (collection 2009).
Ces photos nous ont été fournies par Emotions Golf Events représentant exclusif des marques de vêtements, MASTERS GOLF-FASHION, DAILY SPORTS et ROHNISCH, à l’île Maurice. 30
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Let’s talk
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Hon. Satyaprakash (Devanand) Ritoo
by Charlotte Looker
MINISTER OF YOUTH AND SPORTS
Seldom does one meet such an energetic Politician with a zest for life and an enormous vision to change the lives of every youth and sports lover in Mauritius. Newly appointed Minister Ritoo has a passion for Sports and his goal is set on increasing the participation of physical activities within the community including new plans to construct the first municipal golf course in Mauritius.
Il incarne l’image de l’homme politique moderne déterminé à apporter sa pierre à l’édifice d’une société meilleure. Devanand Rittoo, le nouveau ministre de la Jeunesse et des Sports, a toujours l’énergie débordante et l’enthousiasme de l’athlète qu’il a été. Une énergie qu’il veut mettre au service du sport local en permettant au plus grand nombre de citoyens de pratiquer une activité physique. Parmi ses nouveaux projets figure la construction du premier parcours de golf municipal.
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••• Let’s talk His campaign will enrich the lives of every Mauritian citizen, offering more opportunities for the young and old to experience the joy of sport and physical activity including Golf. An experienced Athlete Minister Ritoo participated in athletics and football when he was in School at John Kennedy College, which continued into a professional career playing at the highest level football for almost eight years. His highest level attained was playing for the Mauritius National Squad until injury forced him into retirement. After retirement from football Minister Ritoo was appointed the Adviser/Coach of the Ministry of Youth and Sports from 1996 to 2005. “I was always interested in politics since a young age. I had made a name in football and sports. When the proposal came to me to stand as candidate for the Social Alliance party in 2005, it was a dream comes true.” Since taking office as Minister in September 2008 he made it a priority to meet all stakeholders in sports and the athletes as well. His foremost priority is to give each citizen of Mauritius the opportunity to practice a sport of their choice. “Sport is a good medium to fight against various social evils and health hazards. Mass sports programmes will be developed and local authorities will be actively involved on this project.” The Ministry of Youth and Sports officially recognises the Mauritius Golf Federation and offers financial support and assistance to organise tournaments for local players. At present a proposal is taking place for the construction of a golf course that will be managed by the Ministry of Sports in collaboration with the Mauritius Golf Federation.
La campagne du ministre Rittoo vise à permettre à chaque citoyen mauricien, jeune ou vieux, de s’épanouir à travers une discipline sportive ou la pratique régulière d’une activité physique. A cet égard, il est déterminé à mettre à la portée du plus grand nombre l’encadrement approprié. Le golf fait partie des activités qu’il veut promouvoir à plus grande échelle. C’est indéniablement son passé d’athlète qui explique la détermination du ministre, qui ne veut pas tomber dans le piège des vœux pieux. Ce n’est pas étonnant qu’il soit un homme de terrain. Le terrain il connaît bien, même si celui-ci était d’une autre nature. En effet, le ministre Rittoo a participé à des compétitions nationales de football lorsqu’il était un peu plus jeune. Son intérêt pour le football a pris naissance au collège John Kennedy, qu’il fréquentait. Il s’est adonné à sa passion jusqu’au niveau professionnel, évoluant pendant 8 ans au sein du football d’élite. Le point culminant de sa carrière fut de jouer pour l’équipe nationale jusqu’à se qu’il du se retirer suite à des blessures. Après sa retraite du football professionnel, Devanand Rittoo était nommé conseiller/entraîneur au ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports de 1996 à 2005. “J’ai toujours été intéressé par la politique, et ce depuis très jeune. Je m’étais fait un nom dans le domaine sportif, en particulier le foot, et j’avais atteint mes objectifs. Quand l’Alliance sociale m’a proposé de me présenter aux élections générales de 2005, c’était un rêve qui se réalisait”, nous confie-t-il. Dès qu’il a pris ses fonctions de ministre en septembre 2008, Devanand Rittoo s’est fait un devoir de rencontrer tous les partenaires sportifs ainsi que les athlètes. Sa priorité est de donner la chance à chaque citoyen la possibilité de pratiquer le sport de son choix. “Le sport reste le meilleur moyen pour combattre les fléaux sociaux et les problèmes de santé. Des programmes de sports de masse seront développés et les collectivités locales seront appelées à s’investir à fond dans ce projet”, indiquet-il. Le ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports accorde tout son soutien à la Fédération Mauricienne de Golf et est toujours partant pour participer à l’organisation de tournois destinés aux golfeurs locaux. Le projet de construction d’un parcours de golf qui sera géré par le ministère des Sports conjointement avec la Fédération Mauricienne de Golf est actuellement à l’étude. La Fédération Mauricienne de Golf est la seule autorité responsable de la promotion de cette discipline à Maurice. Le soutien financier du ministère permet à la fédération d’atteindre ses objectifs. “Il est
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Let’s talk The Mauritius Golf Federation is the sole authority responsible for promoting golf in Mauritius. The Ministry, through financial assistance, helps the federation to attain its objectives. “It appears that the practice of Golf requires an important financial investment. As Minister of Sports, I will see the possibilities that can be explored to help in the promotion of Golf in Mauritius.” Minister Ritoo requested the federation to help in the advancement of Golf in Mauritius by initiating Development Golf Programmes for schoolchildren. “Golf is one of the sports that are broadcasted regularly on private TV channels and I know that citizens of Mauritius would love to practice this sport if they are given the opportunity to do so.” Minister Ritoo believes that golf should be promoted and accessible to all social classes in Mauritius. He feels that anyone interested in practicing golf should be given the opportunity to do so irrespective of his social class. “This could be achieved by enabling the citizens of Mauritius to have access to the existing golf courses. An agreement will have to be worked out between hotels and the federation.” His message to the youth of Mauritius and around the world is clear: “To the youth of Mauritius, I would say, you can count on me for the development and promotion of sports in this country. I am coming up with new strategies for development of sports in Mauritius and I invite all young citizens to join our different sports programmes.” “To the people of the world, I would say, Sport is a way of life. Sport develops values such as honesty, friendship, tolerance towards others, fairplay, unity and sportsmanship. Sport is lifetime learning environment.” His plans for the New Year include re-launching activities for youth like “Jeux de L’ Avenir”(Future Games) and “Jeux de L’Espoir”(Game of Hope). A new concept will be introduced for the promotion of sport at Tertiary Level. Special attention will be given for the preparation of Mauritian Athletes in forthcoming major events and more promising and potentially gifted athletes will be provided with financial assistance to support them in their quest for excellence in sport. “I will personally see to it that our sports infrastructures are maintained in a reasonable standard so that our athletes train and compete in a safe and healthy environment.”
évident que la pratique du golf exige d’importants investissements financiers. Comme ministre de tutelle, je m’engage à étudier toutes les possibilités pour assurer la promotion de cette discipline”, soutient Devanand Rittoo. Par ailleurs, le ministre a sollicité la collaboration de la fédération pour faire progresser ce sport à Maurice par le biais des programmes d’initiation auprès des élèves des écoles primaires. “Le golf est un sport qui passe régulièrement sur les chaînes privées et je sais que beaucoup de Mauriciens seraient heureux de pratiquer cette discipline s’ils en avaient l’opportunité”. Le ministre des Sports pense que le golf doit être popularisé et être accessible à toutes les classes sociales du pays. Il estime que toute personne intéressée à pratiquer ce sport doit avoir la possibilité de le faire. Ce qui peut être fait facilement, dit-il, en facilitant l’accès aux nombreux parcours de golf opérationnels dans le pays : “Pour cela, il faudrait qu’un accord soit conclu entre les hôtels et la fédération”. Son message aux jeunes du pays et du monde entier est clair : “Les jeunes de Maurice peuvent compter sur moi pour le développement et la promotion du sport local. J’ai élaboré de nouvelles stratégies à cet égard et j’espère que cela encouragera les jeunes à participer davantage aux programmes sportifs que nous allons proposer”. “Aux jeunes du monde, je voudrai dire que le sport est un mode de vie. Il développe des valeurs comme l’honnêteté, l’amitié, la tolérance, le fairplay et la sportivité. Le sport est un domaine dans lequel on ne cesse d’apprendre durant toute la vie”. Ses projets pour la nouvelle année comprennent la relance d’activités destinées aux jeunes comme les Jeux de l’Avenir et les Jeux de l’Espoir. Un nouveau concept sera élaboré pour promouvoir les sports au niveau des institutions tertiaires. Une attention particulière sera accordée à la préparation des athlètes en vue des prochaines compétitions nationales et internationales. Les athlètes qui ont du potentiel bénéficieront d’une assistance financière afin de leur permettre d’atteindre l’excellence dans leurs disciplines de prédilection. “Je veillerai personnellement à ce que nos infrastructures sportives soient d’un niveau approprié pour que les athlètes puissent s’entraîner dans les meilleures conditions possibles”, conclut-il.
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•••
••• Lets tee off
Let’s tee off Tee off has grown from strength to strength over the last eight years the introduction of top professionals helping with the coaching programs and setting up players personal goals. Players with no knowledge of the game have grown in stature becoming accomplished players and winners. We have turned these golfers into club champions, open winners and individual stars. Golf swings and etiquette to die for, training and swing analyze being carried out every day by our dedicated staff at tee-off with pleasant smile and always so keen to offer their services to one and all. Ann Minkley Manager
I
was introduced to golf by my husband “Gavin” way back in the nineties when he was playing competitive golf and teaching. While accompanying Gavin on several competitions this got me interested, I started playing and learning from some of my lady friends that attended tuition from Gavin. Eventually he saw my interest and started helping me with my golf only to be interrupted by the birth of our son. My golf had been put on hold for a period but my passion for the game was still kept alive by Gavin. Conversations between us were never far away from golf as weekends were filled with tournaments with several formats being played one has so much to learn and understand, started playing a bit when my son grown and out of our arms but this was short lived due to the birth of our daughter. My golf really got going when Gavin started Tee-Off with some friends; I was called in to assist in running of the Golf Driving Range. This was a great opportunity for me and my husband we worked day and night of this project with our kids by our side I remember my daughter in my arms while liaising with clients. Now that the kids have grown up and are playing this gives me more motivation to improve my golf and enjoy the interest of the whole family. We have a membership of 85 golfers which is growing month to month; together with these members we introduce playing lessons at various golf courses around Mauritius. competitions are held monthly for the members and their guest, our main objective to introduce beginners to the golf course ,teach the rules and golf etiquette and in particular the speed of play Taking care of our members with newsletters events and accounts plus the daily running around making sure the range is in order We offer a full package to corporate days for companies ‘Golf
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Initiation’ these days are not only fun but offer an opportunity to staff of companies involved with golf around the world, great for team building Our Sunday morning family days are great fun with the members on the range followed by putting contests and demonstrations by our assistant Pro, Gavin giving advice on the golf swing and new equipment available on the market. Technology on golf equipment has changed so much with the new modern equipment these days. Custom fitting was introduced over the past two years; members are constantly seeking advice and the latest swing tip to fix their golf problems I play all the Tee Off competitions for fun, however I am quite competitive and enjoy breaking 100 my goal is to break 95 but my putting on fast greens lets me down… Members enjoy coming to Tee-Off we welcome everyone be it for the serious golfer of just wanting to enjoy the game of golf we cater for all your needs as a golfer. “Why not try golf” come a see us at Tee-Off for a memorable experience
fer e of t w ; n side ctive obje Our re he t y r h . N ima d tips ou wit r O p I IT our ey s an F TU f is skill o provid GOL ing gol olfing t g h and Teac nge of is on h vice. a d r l ons nd a ona ide mpi a a w Professi ng tips a h eC fi PGA sary gol utur F g s nin nece Trai URSE f f O O Tee- INNER C COURSE ATION BEG NCED EVALU A N F ADV L GOL LESSO A L T A O U N T SSO NT IVID IND ING LE AGME N Y PLA SE MA R U CO g fittin tom repairs s u C club ette Golf & etiqu s es Rule analys emy g ad n i Sw ren’s ac d l i Ch
Rules and etiquette
Lets tee
Contact details: Tee-Off Ltd Montebello Pailles Tel: 230 728 52 84 Tel: 230 988 34 62 Email: gavin.teeoff@gmail.com
Players must check the number of clubs in your bag. We all try new clubs or even reintroduce an old favourite club from time to time forgetting that we have more than the legal limit. Remember to have your rulebook in your golf bag, never be afraid to use it while playing rules are there to guide and help you improve your knowledge of the game.
The rules of golf are there to help the golfer “Play the ball as it lies. Play the course as you find it. And if you can’t do either do what is fair, but to do what is fair you need to know the RULES OF GOLF”
FF
Rule 4-4. Maximum of fourteen clubs Selection and addition of clubs The player must not start a stipulated round with more than fourteen clubs. he is limited to the clubs thus selected for that round, except that if he started with fewer than fourteen clubs, he may add any number, provided his total does not exceed fourteen. The addition of a club or clubs must not delay play and the player must not add or borrow any clubs selected for play by any other person playing the course. Penalty for Breach of rule 4-4. Match play - at the conclusion of the hole at which the breach is discovered, the state of the match is adjusted one hole for each hole at which a breach occurred maximum deduction per round-two holes. Stroke play – two strokes for each hole at which any breach occurred maximum penalty per round – four stokes.
off
E E T
O
F L O
G
SCHOOL
& DRIVING RANGE
Training Future Champions Swingtime - Issue 3
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••• Benz & Partners
Benz & Partners View The financial market crisis is not quite over yet The substantial decline in commodity prices, coupled with waning demand across all markets, will see inflation fall relatively quickly below the 2% mark. Lower energy prices, the measures adopted by central banks to both stabilize and stimulate the economy, as well as the demand-boosting packages implemented by governments, will begin to bear fruit in the second half of 2009. As a result, both economic growth and company earnings will begin to accelerate. This will be anticipated by the stock markets. Moreover, a Democrat will soon assume the presidency of the USA, a development that has been largely welcomed by the markets in the past.
Price performance of selected commodities Index: 3 May 2007 = 100
300 250
Wheat
Rice
200 150 Gold
100
26.06.08
13.03.08
16.08.07
50
29.11.07
Corn
03.05.07
W
hile the renewed downturn on the equity markets came as no surprise, it served to exacerbate investor uncertainty. Overall, the SMI equity index fell a further 7.5%, bringing its losses since year-start to 27.5%. However, this is at least above the low recorded by the Swiss market on 27 October, when the index was 35.2% below its year-start level. On that day, global share-price losses ranged from 18.3% in Venezuela to 78.1% in Russia. The very emerging markets that many, at the beginning of the year, had hoped would cushion falls in other markets have now also born the brunt of massive slump in share prices. Indeed, the markets of Asia and Eastern Europe appear to be deeper in the doldrums than those in Western Europe and the USA; the MSCI World index has lost 45% since January. Contrary to expectations, neither gold mining stocks (-63%), nor investments in physical gold, have offered any protection from the financial market crisis. In our opinion, we have now reached a stage in which many equities are rather undervalued and all existing negative news and forecasts have been priced in. We know that the economy in both the USA and Euroland is already in recession and that, in all probability, gross domestic product will contract in several economies in 2009. Unemployment will rise and private consumption will dwindle. The outlook for prices paints a more positive picture.
Source: Global Insight; WMM
Performance of selected equity indices Index: 1 January 2000 = 100
130 SMI
120 110 100
“ Inflation is no longer an issue for politicians or investors — instead, deflation, i.e. the prospect of falling prices, appears to be gradually reemerging as an issue. However, we believe that concern about deflation is exaggerated.”
Dow Jones Industrial
90 80
NIKKEI
70 60 50 DAX
40 30 1.1.00
1.1.02
1.1.04
1.1.06
1.1.08 Source: Datastream
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Benz &
Patners
Time to invest in the stock market again?
I
f we assume that all negative future developments have already been factored into share prices, now is the time to begin rebuilding equity positions. Among the various equity markets, the US market appears particularly well placed to benefit in the months ahead. The economically-driven growth slowdown is already at an advanced stage in the USA, and investor sentiment will likely rebound following the presidential elections. In this situation, investments in an index fund would seem advisable. Funds based on a value approach, such as Oyster US Value, are also attractive. For those less inclined to cross the Atlantic, there are also
attractive investment opportunities in Switzerland. One extreme example is specialty steel producer Schmolz und Bickenbach. In summer 2008, the company’s share price was just below CHF 100; due to the financial crisis, however, the stock dipped as low as CHF 25 and is now trading at around CHF 31. This represents a massive undervaluation, given that demand for special steel bears little correlation with cyclical developments. We also view packaging glass manufacturer Vetropack as an attractive investment option. Currently trading at just below CHF 1700, this stock too is well below its fair price.
Falling commodity prices — a harbinger of deflation?
S
ince last summer, the oil price has more than halved from almost USD 150 per barrel to below USD 70. Meanwhile, the price of gold has slumped from USD 1000 an ounce in spring to around USD 750. Dramatic price falls have also been recorded in the agricultural sector. The price of wheat dropped 45%, of corn 24% and of rice 30%. There has been as similar downturn in prices for industrial metals. One reason for this slump in prices has been the emerging and anticipated slowdown in global demand. However, prices had also been driven up by speculation as investors went on the hunt for lucrative investment opportunities following the bursting of the real estate bubble in the USA, Spain and England. To this end, the banks offered investors a broad range of investment instruments. But as the financial market crisis began to intensify, these instruments were also exposed to selling
pressure, resulting in an exaggerated downward slide in prices equal in magnitude to the speculatively-driven price excesses that preceded it. In most economies, these developments have led to an easing on the inflation front. Inflation is no longer an issue for politicians or investors — instead, deflation, i.e. the prospect of falling prices, appears to be gradually reemerging as an issue. However, we believe that concern about deflation is exaggerated. Although commodity prices have recorded sharp falls this year, they are still well above 2005 levels. In other words, prices have been moving within the fluctuation range of the commodities sector. Moreover, the increase in money supply aimed at weathering the current crisis will likely support rising inflation over the longer term, meaning that a drop in prices will only occur in isolated instances.
The value of the euro certainly been exaggerated, the fact that prompt action was taken in the USA to stabilize the financial sector has boosted investor confidence in the greenback.
1.70
A more realistic valuation of the EUR versus the CHF CHF per EUR
1.65 1.60 1.55
Fair value
1.50
25.09.08
22.05.08
17.01.08
1.40
13.09.07
1.45
10.05.07
I
n terms of purchasing power parity, calculated on the basis of inflation disparities, the exchange rate of the EUR against the Swiss franc should be around CHF 1.45. However, in view of the pronounced gap in economic potential in Switzerland and Euroland, as well as the interest-rate spread, we believe that the fair value of the euro versus the CHF is in the range of CHF 1.50—1.60. The recent fall in the euro to CHF 1.43 was a reaction to developments on the financial markets. Once again, the Swiss franc acted as a temporary safe haven, but its appreciation owed little to fundamental factors. The euro’s slump against the USD was also remarkable. While the common currency fell some 10% versus the CHF, it has lost almost 20% against the greenback since August. Although the gains recorded by the USD have
Source: Global Insight; WMM
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Please contact : Mr. Alan Duval Tel : +230 213 3399 - Fax : +230 213 3342 Mobile : +230 256 0817 Mobile (S.Africa) : + 27 82 890 6321 Office (S.Africa) : + 27 21 913 4759 alan@skyprops.co.za alan@marketinfodirect.com
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••• Biz bits Le Corporate Reporting Award à Air Mauritius
Le trophée récompensant le gagnant du PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporage Reporting Award 2008 dans toutes les catégories est allé à Air Mauritius. La compagnie nationale aérienne s’est distinguée au niveau de la présentation de son bilan financier par rapport à certains critères : la conception visuelle, le Management Discussion, les informations sur le Corporate Governance et la qualité du “financial reporting”. Les autres lauréats sont Naiade Resorts Ltd dans la catégorie de Sem -7 ; Ciel Investment (Investment Companies) ; Robert Le Maire Ltd (Corporate Governance) et Phoenix Beverages Ltd (Design).
Air Mauritius décroche le trophée de CRA 2008
Air Mauritius is the overall winner of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Reporting Award 2008. It ranks first in all categories and was awarded the first prize. The national airline company distinguishes itself as far as the design of the annual report, its mission and vision statement, its financial reporting and the statement of Corporate Governance are concerned. The other winners are Naiade Resorts Ltd in the Sem-7 category; Ciel Investment( Investment Companies), Air Mauritius( Financial Reporting); Robert Le Maire Ltd (Corporate Governance) et Phoenix Beverages(Design).
Arrivées touristiques : croissance de 3,6% en 2008 Les derniers chiffres rendus publics par le ministère du Tourisme montrent que Maurice a accueilli 83 524 visiteurs en octobre dernier. Ce qui représente une augmentation de 2,8% par rapport à la même période en 2007. Cependant, sur la base des statistiques fournies par le ministère du Tourisme sur les arrivées pour les premiers neuf mois et les données compilées par les opérateurs dans ce secteur, les estimations pour les arrivées en 2008 tourneraient autour de 940 000, une croissance de plus de 3,6% par rapport à 2007. L’Europe demeure le principal marché touristique de Maurice, avec des arrivées qui ont augmenté de 3,8% pour passer à 433 690. Parallèlement, une hausse de 10,8% dans les arrivées provenant de la France, le principal réservoir touristique du pays, a été enregistrée. Les recettes touristiques brutes pour les premiers neuf mois de l’année sont estimées par la Banque de Maurice à Rs 30,8 milliards, une augmentation de 8,4% par rapport aux Rs 28,4 milliards récoltées en 2007.
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Biz bits
Le Groupe Bhunjun investit dans un IRS à Rivière-Noire Le Groupe Bhunjun développe actuellement un projet Integrated Resorts Scheme (IRS) sur un site de 26 hectares au coût de Rs 1 milliard à proximité des morcellements Carlos et Black Rock, à RivièreNoire. Ce projet, qui a déjà obtenu l’approbation du Board of Investment (BOI), a pour nom La Tourelle Ocean View Villas. Il sera réalisé par Sunset in Paradise, une des filiales du groupe. Les éventuels acquéreurs auront accès au Resident’s Club, qui abritera un bar, un restaurant et un salon. Ils auront le choix entre quatre types de villas, dont la superficie varie entre 380 m2 et 690 m2, construites sur des sites individuels de quelque 2 600 m2. Elles seront équipées de trois à cinq chambres de type “en-suite” et d’une piscine à débordement et de plusieurs terrasses couvertes. La famille Bhunjun, qui a confié la gestion de cet hôtel au groupe Starwood, a déjà une expérience dans l’hôtellerie. En 2002, elle avait investi Rs 1,5 milliards dans le projet Voile d’Or à Bel Ombre. Mais suite à un différend avec la société de gestion de l’établissement, le promoteur avait décidé de vendre le 5-étoiles au prince saoudien Al Wahid.
Tourist arrivals at 3,6 % growth in 2008 Latest figures released by Tourism Ministry show that 83,524 tourists travelled within Mauritius in October. This represents an increase of 2,8% over the figure of October 2007. However based on data available on tourist arrivals for the first nine months of the year and information gathered from stakeholders, the forecast of tourist arrivals for the year 2008 has been revised downwards to 940,000, i.e. +3.6% over the figure of 906,971 for 2007. Europe remains the leading market with arrivals increasing by 3.8% to 433,690. A 10.8% rise in arrivals was noted from France, the country’s main market. Gross tourism receipts for the first nine months of 2008 were estimated by the Bank of Mauritius at Rs 30,801 million, an increase of 8.4% compared to Rs 28,404 million for the same period of 2007.
Bhunjun ‘s Group invests in IRS Bhunjun’s Group is investing in an IRS (Integrated Resort Scheme) project of the tune of 1 billion rupees to be erected on the western part of the island, near Morcellement Carlos and Black Rock. Named La Tourelle Ocean View, the IRS will be developed on a site of 26 acres of lands where 26 high luxury residences varying from 380 m2 to 690 m2 will be put on sale. Each residence will be equipped with 3 to 5 suites rooms and an individual piscine. Constructed by Sunset in Paradise, a sister company of Bhunjun’s group, the residents will have access to Resident’s Club which will house a bar, a restaurant and a lounge. The hotel will be managed by Starwood Hotel. Tourelle Ocean View is not the first experience of the group in hotel industry. In 2002, Bhunjun’s family invested 1,5 billion rupees in Voile d’Or at Bel Ombre. However following a disagreement with the management society, the 5-Star Hotel was put on sale and acquired by Prince Al Wahid of Saudia Arabia.
Le titre de Bank of the Year 2008 à la MCB The Banker, publication spécialisée du Groupe Financial Times, a décerné le prestigieux titre de Bank of the Year 2008 pour Maurice à la Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB). Cette institution, qui célèbre ses 170 ans cette année, a été récompensée pour sa solidité financière, sa stratégie prudente mais avant-gardiste et une excellente performance à tous les niveaux. Le Groupe MCB a réalisé, pour l’année financière 2007-2008, des profits après impôts de Rs 3,7 milliards, ce qui représente une croissance de 50 % par rapport à 2006-2007. Durant le premier trimestre de l’année financière 2008-2009, elle a réalisé une croissance de 36 %, affichant des profits de Rs 880 millions.
MCB awarded Bank of the Year 2008-11-30 MCB (Mauritius Commercial Bank) ranked first bank by turnover, was awarded Bank of the Year 2008 by the Banker, a publication of Financial Times Group. The 170 year -old bank, has been awarded on the back of its financial solidity, prudent strategy and excellent performance achieved at all levels. MCB Group registered profits after tax of 3,7 billion rupees for financial year 2007-2008, which is considered as a growth of 50% compared to the same period last year. For the first quarterly results 2008-2009, the Bank has recorded a 36 per cent growth, showing a profit of 880 million rupees.
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Early ams
Meet Phil Minkley aspiring
Junior Golfer by Charlotte Looker
It’s not very often you meet young men with the manners and decorum of Phil Minkley. With the persona of a man in his 20’s, Phil at the tender age of 14 has one career objective in mind – to be a Professional Golfer. This well spoken gentleman has experienced success in a sport governed by the older generation. Winning his first tournament in 2005 at the tender age of ten years Phil is one of a kind when it comes to golf. He started with a 7 iron at the age of 4 years old. His father, mentor and coach inspired him, and encouraged him to achieve higher goals within the golfing profession. By the age of 7 he moved onto his first set of junior clubs which were soon replaced by a ladies set that he used to win his first tournament. Now he has his own set of men’s clubs and is ready to embark on a lifetime career of golf. Recently winning the Mauritian National Championship held at the Mauritius Gymkhana Club, Phil has a strong philosophy when it comes to his game “My goal is to try and beat the course not to beat the others. I strive to set new personal best scores.” Since winning several tournaments his fellow school mates and friends are all interested in learning
Du haut de ses 14 ans, Phil Minkley est un garçon charmant et distingué, comme on en rencontre rarement. Faisant preuve d’une maturité digne d’un jeune homme de 20 ans, il a déjà un objectif bien précis en tête : devenir un golfeur professionnel. Gentleman au beau parler, son parcours dans ce sport dominé par les plus âgés est déjà brillant. Il a remporté avec brio sa première victoire à l’âge de dix ans, prouvant qu’il était une valeur sûre du golf et un joueur d’exception. Et pour cause : il a commencé avec un fer 7 à l’âge de 4 ans. C’est son père, moniteur de golf mais également son mentor, qui l’a inspiré et encouragé à persévérer dans cette discipline. A l’âge de 7 ans, il est passé à son premier jeu de clubs junior qui a été vite été remplacé par un set pour dames qui lui a valu sa première victoire. Il a désormais son propre jeu de clubs et est fin prêt pour s’investir à fond dans une carrière professionnelle. Récemment, Phil a remporté le championnat national tenu au Mauritius Gymkhana Club et confirmé ses bonnes dispositions. D’ailleurs, il a sa propre philosophie concernant le jeu : “Mon but est de relever les défis du parcours et non de surpasser les autres. Je m’efforce d’améliorer mes propres scores”.
“ Golf is a strange game it depends how you swing it”
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•••
••• Early ams the game and often ask him when he is going to teach them. For now though he must focus on his own game and prepare for upcoming tournaments. His passion and commitment to golf is evident “I love golf because it’s a good sport. It’s actually very good for the body and it keeps you fit. Modern day golfers are elite athletes and maintaining my fitness takes a lot of time.” He practices twice and week on the driving range and enjoys playing football with his school mates. Phil recalls how stressful he can get prior to starting a round of golf, he recalls advice from fellow juniors telling him that it’s just game and to enjoy himself. “Golf is a strange game it depends how you swing it. Before a tournament I normally try to relax cause if you are stressed when you play you will play worse than you think.” His advice to other young members or people aspiring to get into the game of golf: “Before starting, look for professional advice as the golf swing is very technical. Cause if you start by yourself you might develop bad habits. If one day it doesn’t work out with golf don’t give up, you can still go for it – it’s not easy, just try and hit the ball straight and on the fairway. If you start off with a professional who can help you, then you will be good. Otherwise you can develop bad habits which can lead to injuries and back problems.” There are many Golf Courses and practice facilities available for young people to get started. With a growing interest from the younger Mauritian generation, a number of new tournaments are commencing in 2009.
Where to get started? Contact : Tee Off Ltd. Montebello Pailles email:gavin.teeoff@gmail.com Tel 728 5284
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Depuis qu’il engrange les victoires, ses amis sont intéressés à apprendre le golf et lui demandent souvent quand il va le leur enseigner. Mais sa priorité actuelle est de se concentrer sur son propre jeu en vue des prochaines compétitions. Ce qui en dit long sur sa passion et son investissement dans cette discipline : “J’aime le golf parce que c’est un sport complet. C’est une discipline qui est effectivement très bon pour la forme. Les golfeurs d’aujourd’hui sont des athlètes qui font partie de l’élite et je n’épargne aucun effort pour maintenir la forme”. Phil pratique le golf deux fois par semaine, mais ne néglige pas pour autant ses autres loisirs. Il prend beaucoup de plaisir à jouer au football avec ses camarades de collège. Le jeune homme avoue qu’il a parfois beaucoup de trac avant le début d’une partie de golf, mais que ses compagnons de jeu le rassurent en lui rappelant que l’important c’est de bien s’amuser. “Le golf est un jeu étrange où l’important est d’avoir un bon swing. Avant un tournoi, j’essaye de me détendre, parce que si on est stressé, cela a un effet plus néfaste qu’on ne peut l’imaginer sur notre jeu”. Son conseil aux jeunes et à tous ceux qui souhaiteraient s’initier au golf : “Avant de débuter, recherchez un avis éclairé, car le swing est quelque chose de très technique. Car si on essaie d’apprendre par soi-même, on peut développer de mauvaises habitudes. Si au départ cela ne semble pas gagné d’avance, il ne faut pas baisser les bras. Il faut persévérer, même si ce n’est pas facile. Il faut réussir à frapper la balle correctement de façon à ce qu’elle traverse le fairway. Si vous faites appel à un professionnel lors de vos premiers pas, c’est dans la poche. Sinon, gare aux mauvaises habitudes qui peuvent provoquer des blessures et des problèmes de dos.” Il y a de nombreux terrains de golf et de facilités d’entraînement pour permettre aux jeunes de se lancer et d’évoluer dans ce sport. La jeune génération s’intéresse de plus en plus à cette discipline, et les nombreuses compétitions au calendrier 2009 ne peuvent que les encourager à se jeter à l’eau…
The Dodo / Afrisia golf open
The Dodo / Afrasia
golf open
Afrasia Bank renewing its sponsorship with the dodo Club
La banque Afrasia assure son soutien au Dodo Club
Mauritius very own historic Dodo Club saw another thrilling competition on November 30 2008. The premiere of the Afrasia Bank Golf Open was a great success. 180 of the country’s most competitive players were on hand to test their skills on this challenging 9 hole golf course, which dates back more than 80 years. 8 par threes and 1 par four make up the golf course, with a total par of 58 played over two weekends. A qualifying round with the top 80 players from various club took up the challenge on the second weekend. Hard fought battles starting at the crack of dawn were interrupted by tropical rains in the afternoon prompting the second round to be abandoned. As a result the tournament had to be reduced from 3 rounds to just 2 rounds, the final round being played in glorious sun shine with great golf from the Professionals and amateurs alike. Sunday the 30th saw the final 18 holes with some players making great scores and others rather
La 1ère édition de l’Afrasia Bank Golf Open a connu un franc succès malgré le mauvais temps le 30 novembre dernier au Dodo Club à Curepipe. Cette compétition nationale était aussi l’occasion pour les différents clubs de golf de Maurice de se réunir. Des cent quatre vingt golfeurs enregistrés au départ, uniquement quatre vingt sont partis en finale après deux week-ends (22-23 novembre -29-30 novembre) de rude compétition. La compétition qui s’est tenue sur 36 trous a tenu en haleine plus d’un et ce jusqu’au dernier jour. La Banque Afrasia s’est associée au Golf depuis des années et selon James Benoît, son directeur générale, ‘ les valeurs de la vie se retrouvent dans le Golf et c’est pour cela que nous devons inculquer la culture de ce sport à nos employés et aux personnes en dehors de la banque’. Encrée dans sa vie familiale, le DG souhaite partager sa passion pour le golf aux Mauriciens. ‘ La banque est consciente de sa responsabilité sociale envers la
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••• The Dodo open disappointing however great golf and hospitality from the Dodo Club was followed by wonderful prize giving and cocktails. Afrasia Bank has a long history with Golf, and according to James Benoit, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, ‘The values of Golf are life values and need to be inculcated to the employers as well as people outside the bank.’ Deeply rooted in his own family, the CEO wants to share his passion for Golf to the whole Mauritian society. ‘We are profoundly concerned by the corporate social responsibility of Afrasia towards the Mauritian population. For this reason, a committee has been set up to work on the different events next year to promote the sports and culture of golf around the island. The partnership with the Dodo club is only the beginning of a long journey.’ James Benoit explained to Swingtime. Furthermore, the CEO of Afrasia Bank stressed the fact that golf clubs should encourage more young people to practice this sport. ‘The future of golf is in the hands of the new generation, we thus have the responsibility to encourage youngsters to play golf. Competition for children has once been organized but it is not enough. Afrasia Bank is actually looking into the matter and will shortly finalize a few projects for the younger population’. In order to encourage players to improve their performance, Afrasia bank also offered special prizes for nearest the pin. Three participants, Nicholas Chauveau, Jacques Hardy and Deepak Nundoosing all measuring within (50 cm) received a gift. Guy Adam was compensated for performing the longest drive in the competition. Manoj Seegoolam performed the ultimate shot in golf “hole in one” using a five iron on the 180 meter par five his struck this wonder shot earning himself Rs 100,000 Billy Nairraina- PRO category Billy played some great golf over the two rounds to beat fellow professionals Vishnoo Seeneevassen and Atam Mohun. This experience player from Titleist was happy with his performance, ‘this competition is a preparation toward a grand tournament which will be held in January 09 in India’ he said. A teaching professional with a master’s degree from Belgium is convinced that golf can become as popular as soccer. It’s crystal clear that Mauritius has golfers full of potential but more competitions should be organized for players to acquire experience’ He also added that ‘The Golf federation should work hand in hand with clubs to promote the sport of golf around Mauritius”
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population mauricienne. C’est pour cela qu’un comité a été mis sur pied pour travailler sur les différents événements concernant le Golf pour l’année prochaine. Notre partenariat avec le Dodo Club n’est que le début d’une longue aventure’ explique James Benoît à Swing time. Par ailleurs, le DG a aussi mis l’emphase sur le fait que les clubs de golf doivent encourager d’avantage les jeunes à pratiquer ce sport de gentleman. ‘ L’avenir du Golf est dans les mains de la nouvelle génération. Nous avons donc la responsabilité d’inciter les jeunes à jouer au Golf. Une compétition pour les enfants a jadis été organisée, mais il ne faut pas en rester là. La banque Afrasia s’est d’ailleurs penchée dessus, et compte finaliser prochainement quelques projets destinés aux jeunes et aux enfants’ souligne-t-il. Ainsi, pour encourager les participants à donner le meilleur d’eux-mêmes, la banque Afrasia a offert plusieurs prix spéciaux. Trois finalistes, Nicholas Chauveau, Jacques Hardy et Deepak Nundoosing (50 cm) ont reçu un prix pour avoir effectué un ‘ nearest to the pin’. Guy Adam pour sa part a été récompensé pour avoir accompli ‘le longest drive’. Alors que Manoj Seegolam s’est octroyé un prix spécial pour un ‘hole-in-one’. Billy Nairraina- Catégorie PRO ‘ La Fédération doit travailler avec les différents clubs pour promouvoir le Golf’ Chez les golfeurs PRO, c’est Billy Nairrainan qui a eu le dernier mot en remportant un score brut de 126 points devançant ainsi Vishnoo Seeneevasen et Atam Mohun. Ce joueur d’expérience du club local Tight Lace est fier de sa performance. ‘ Cette compétition est une préparation en vue du grand tournoi qui aura lieu en Inde en Janvier prochain’ ajoute-t-il. Détenteur d’une maîtrise en golf de Belgique, il est convaincu que ce sport pourrait être placé sur le même piédestal que le foot. Pour cela, la Fédération Mauricienne de Golf doit jouer son rôle pleinement. ‘ C’est clair que les golfeurs mauriciens ont du potentiel, cependant, plus de compétitions doivent être organisées pour qu’ils aient de l’expérience’ confie le moniteur de golf. Et d’ajouter que ‘ La fédération doit travailler en étroite collaboration avec les clubs pour promouvoir le golf à Maurice surtout que dans quelques années, il figurera parmi les disciplines des Jeux Olympiques’.
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••• Local News
Positioning Port-Louis as a first class stop over Port-Louis is taking new shape. One of Mauritius key economic sectors is the Port Louis shipping dock. In order to meet fierce international competition it is imperative that the central shipping port of Mauritius meets international standards. Not only used for import and export, the port plays a large role in the tourism of Mauritius. Hosting cruise liners from around the globe, which are docked in Mauritius while guests peruse through this tropical wonderland. Recently the current global financial state has gained worldwide attention. With the trade industry currently being centred around the Chinese and African markets, the Indian Ocean is therefore an important stepping stone between Mauritius and the global trade industry. Emerging as an essential shipping hub within the Indian Ocean, the Mauritius shipping Port is of high priority to the Mauritius Port Authority in maintaining a functional and internationally renowned port. Port Louis harbour, due to its strategic location and as the country’s sole maritime gateway, plays a vital role in the national economy. It handles an estimated 99% of the total volume of external trade, and contributes more than 2% to the country’s GDP. The port sector has undergone major structural upgrades and has been transformed into an economic nerve centre, equipped with modern facilities and offering world class port services. The vision of the Mauritius Port Authority is to develop Port Louis into a regional maritime, logistics and business hub.
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Longtemps un port traditionnel, le port de Port Louis doit aujourd’hui endosser une nouvelle image. Le port l’un des secteurs économiques le plus dynamiques de Maurice doit satisfaire les exigences des normes internationales, cela dans le but de faire face à la compétition à l’échelle mondiale. Ainsi outre les activités portuaires notamment l’embarcation et la débarquement des marchandises, la Mauritius Ports Authority a également développer le secteur des croisières. Alors que l’environnement économique international est en plein ébullition et les zones d’échanges se dessinent essentiellement autour des pays émergeant comme la Chine et l’Afrique Continentale, la zone de l’océan Indien devient le carrefour de ces deux grands axes maritime et les ports qui y sont situés doivent saisir les opportunités qui s’y offrent, cela incluant le développement du marché du tourisme de croisière. Sans oublier que les zones de pêche du sud-oeust de l’Océan Indien figurent parmi une des rares régions du monde disposant encore des ressources halieutique exploitables qui doivent être préservé à tout prix. Port Louis communément appelé l’étoile et la clé de l’Océan indien, profite de cet avantage. D’ailleurs, 99 pourcent du commerce extérieur y transitent. Port louis a connu une transformation radicale sortant d’un port uniquement à caractère d’achalandage pour émerger comme une plateforme de transbordement moderne, équipé et fournissant un service compétitif au niveau international. Le port, un des pilliers de
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Numerous projects have been launched to increase the port performance and the quality of its services. One of which is the oil jetty intended to enhance safety and security in the harbour with
News
l’économie mauricienne, se veut aussi être une plaque tournante régionale maritime et logistique. Plusieurs projets ont été lancés afin d’accroitre la performance du port et par ricochet améliorer la qualité des services. Il faut d’abord parler du terminal pétrolier à Mer Rouge qui devrait permettre d’assurer une meilleure sécurité dans le port grâce à la construction d’une jetée dédiée à la manutention des hydrocarbures. Ce projet a coûté quelques 559 million de roupies. Une autre jetée devrait aussi voir le jour, cette fois ci pour accueillir les paquebots des croisières. Un appel d’offre a été lancé pour la construction de ce terminal de croisière qui coûtera au alentour de 510 million de roupies. Par ailleurs, un projet de protection anticorrosion des pieux et autres ouvrages maritimes est prévu à Port Louis et dans le port de Rodrigues à Port Mathurin. D’autres projets concernant la construction d’une façade anti inondation à la Mauritius Container Terminal ( MCT) et la protection des enrochements sont aussi à l’étude. La Mauritius Ports Authority compte aussi faire l’acquisition de deux remorqueurs au coût de Rs60 million et la livraison est prévu en janvier 2009. Jetée à Les Salines
regards to the handling of petroleum products. With an investment of Rs 559 million, the dedicated oil jetty at Mer Rouge will accommodate tankers for petroleum products.
La Mauritius Ports Authority a attribué le contrat pour la consultation des services à Messrs Royal Haskoning Ltd en partenariat avec Messrs Servansingh Jadav & Partners. Ainsi, ils étaient responsables du plan, du design et de la supervision lors de la construction de ‘cruise berthing facility’. Alors que le contrat pour la construction de la jetée a été accordé à Afcons Infrastructure Ltd.
Another jetty will be functional shortly to accommodate cruise liners. An intricate exercise has been launched for the construction of this cruising terminal which will require an investment of Rs 510 million. Also underway is the construction of a reinforced concrete protection PVC jacket surrounding the steel piles supporting the quays together with a cathodic protection system. As well as the construction of a flood wall to be positioned at the Mauritius Container Terminal. MPA is also in the process of acquiring two tug boats at the coast of Rs 60 million. The commissioning has been fixed on January 2009.
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Cruise jetty at Les Salines: Mauritius Ports Authority has allocated the contract of consulting services to Royal Haskoning which has teamed up to Servansingh Jadav and Partners. This company is in charge for the plan, design and supervision during the construction of the cruise facility. As for the construction contract of this jetty, it has been allocated to Afcons Infrastructure Ltd. Situated at Les Salines, the construction comprises of a 100 m long jetty fixed on two bridges. It also makes provision for solid structures, a mudguard system and lighting. Appropriate facilities have been implemented for easy movement of passengers. A budget of Rs 25 million has been allocated to cater for all these facilities. Construction work started on July 2008 and is estimated to be finished by February 2009. Costa Marina at Port-Louis quay Costa Crociere S.P.A, European’s leader in cruise travel , has started to service Port-Louis as from 18 December 2008. Costa Marina has since hosted 11,000 transit passengers in Mauritius, mainly Europeans from Italy, France, and Germany.
News
Situé à Les Salines, la construction comprend entre autres d’une jetée de 100 m de long entassée avec deux ponts d’approche, le terrain amarrant des structures, un système de garde-boue et un éclairage. En ce qui concerne la construction sur la terre, le strict minimum sera fait pour faciliter la circulation des passagers attendue – le budget alloué est de 25 million de roupies pour toutes les facilités sur la terre. Les travaux de la construction ont débuté qu’en juillet 2008 et doivent être terminé d’ici février 2009. Costa Marina sur le quai de Port Louis Costa Crociere S.P.A, le leader des croisières en Europe, a commencé ses activités avec le port de Maurice à partir du 18 décembre 2008. La Costa Marina a embarqué environ 11,000 passagers à Maurice, principalement des européens d’Italie, de France, d’Allemagne entre autres. Un autre opérateur de croisière, Foresight Ltd a également montré son intérêt d’accoster à Port louis. Ainsi, son paquebot, Ms Ocean Odyssey qui compte plus de 7500 passagers sont attendus pendant la période décembre 2008- décembre 2009.
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Golf business
Women using
Golf as a business tool by Gabrielle Venter
The business world has for many years used the golf course as an alternative boardroom. Men have used golf to entice new clients or clinch big deals and as society has evolved so have the stereotypical ideas about men and women. Once the exclusive playground of successful businessmen, the golf course and all its nuances is now being used by women as an essential business tool. “Golf is ideal for networking be it between two individuals or a group playing a round of golf,” says Tania Fourie, Chief Executive Officer of Women’s World Cup of Golf a women’s golf tour in South Africa. She says “In the last five years South African golf has seen an increase of 40 % in the number of women taking up the game.” Several tournaments such as the Women’s World Cup of Golf, the Ladies African Tour and the Pam Golding Ladies Series have encouraged women to take up the sport of golf and in the process have helped women use this incredibly challenging game to further their business interests. Many women competing in these golf tournaments have helped open up and expand a new medium for businesses specifically targeting women to promote their companies and leverage brand awareness through advertising, hospitality or on site promotions. Golf is about passion, health, performance, precision and team building. It is a lifestyle and many lessons learnt on the golf course can be used in the business arena. “Golf is a great leveller. No matter what your handicap, you can play any format of golf and be sure to enjoy the day and make new friends,” says Tania. Many women in prominent businesses are also using golf not only as a networking tool but also as a relationship building tool. Very much a social sport, golf creates a friendly environment that is beneficial when building business relationships. Trust is forged on the golf course and after a four or five hours you will have either built a very good relationship with your clients or ended one. As useful as golf is in building these relationships, it can also break them if you don’t know how to play the game or the importance of golf etiquette. For this reason it would be advisable to have a few lessons before taking that big client out for a four ball. Essentially golf is used to strengthen professional relationships and increase business success. “What better place to handle sometimes stressful business matters, than outside on the golf course in beautiful natural surroundings,” says Tania. Finally if you want to dominate in your particular business get those golf clubs out, stretch a little bit and start practising your swing.
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Le monde des affaires a pendant de nombreuses années utilisé le parcours de golf comme une salle du conseil alternative. Les hommes ont utilisé le golf pour attirer de nouveaux clients ou décrocher de grands contrats et comme la société a évolué, tel à été le cas sur les idées stéréotypées des hommes et des femmes. Longtemps, terrain exclusif des grands hommes d’affaires, le parcours de golf et toutes ses nuances sont maintenant utilisés par les femmes comme un instrument essentiel d’affaires. ‘ Le golf est idéal pour une association entre deux individus ou un groupe faisant une tournée de golf,” selon le Directeur général de la Coupe du Monde Féministe de Golf, un tour de golf féministe en Afrique du Sud, Tania Fourie. Elle ajoutera que “ Le golf sud-africain a connu durant ces cinq dernières années, une hausse de 40 % avec le nombre de femmes qui pratiquent ce sport’’. Plusieurs tournois comme la Coupe du Monde Féministe de Golf, le Tour d’Africain de Dames et le Pam Golding Women Series ont encouragé des femmes à pratiquer le golf et par la même occasion utiliser ce jeu incroyablement stimulant pour promouvoir leurs affaires. Beaucoup de femmes qui participent à des tournois de golf ont permis aux entreprises de lancer et développer une nouvelle stratégie pour promouvoir leur nom et leur image à travers la publicité, l’accueil et la promotion des sites entre autres Le golf veut aussi dire passion, santé, performance, précision et l’esprit d’équipe. C’est un style de vie et beaucoup de leçons apprises sur le parcours de golf peuvent être utilisées dans l’arène des affaires. “Le golf vous permet de vous élever. Peu importe votre handicap, vous pouvez jouer n’importe quel style de golf et être sûrs d’apprécier votre
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journée et vous faire de nouveaux amis,” souligne Tania. Beaucoup de femmes dans les puissantes entreprises n’utilisent pas le golf uniquement pour se faire de nouveaux contacts, mais aussi consolider les relations avec les clients et partenaires. Un sport très social, le golf crée un environnement sympathique qui est favorable pour bâtir des relations d’affaires. La confiance est établie sur le parcours de golf et après les quatre ou cinq heures qui suivent vous aurez soit construit un très bon rapport avec vos clients ou l’aurez mis fin. Bien que le golf joue un rôle prépondérant dans la construction des rapports, il peut aussi les briser si vous ne savez pas jouer au jeu ou vous ne connaissez pas les protocoles du golf. Pour cette raison, il est conseillé de prendre des leçons avant d’emmener le gros client faire une partie de golf pour quatre boules. Le golf est utilisé essentiellement pour renforcer les relations professionnelles et augmenter votre succès en affaires. ‘’ Quoi de meilleur endroit à l’extérieur sur un parcours de golf entouré de la nature pour discuter des questions d’affaires, les une plus stressantes que les autres?, questionne Tania. En tout cas, si vous voulez avoir du succès dans les affaire, sortez vos golf clubs, étirez vous et pratiquez quelques swings.
Nutrition
Golf Nutrition
by Charlotte Looker
Get more golfing Energy! Ever wonder why you start off your game so well then everything seems to go downhill? You lose concentration on those last few holes and your energy seems to diminish. Well read on as I’m about to share some simple golf nutrition tips that can be applied for your next game: Some of us like to say it was due to the late evening prior, stress from work, or we can blame the clubs or claim that we need to just go hit more balls... My experience in life as in golf comes with the simplest answer:
“ HYDRATION – THE KEY TO SUCCESS “ One of my first jobs as a young teenager was driving a golf buggy around the course of River Lakes Golf Club Australia. This was when I was first exposed to the frighteningly bad habits of the typical golfer. Still today whenever I go out and play I am amazed at the lack of good food and nutritional beverages available in the drinks cart. Not to mention the amount of players that take a beer each time the drinks cart comes by. However the simple fact remains that your body is over 50% water. So if you don’t replenish your energy stores you are destined for a loss of energy and strokes. Golfers need to drink lots of water. Anywhere from eight to ten glasses per day is optimal for everybody, and more than that may be necessary when playing – especially during the summer and generally all year in Mauritius with the exceedingly warm climate. Golfers should avoid starchy foods like potatoes, white breads, corn, and foods high in sugars. These
can serve to make you groggy and less able to react properly. They will rob you of stamina rather than enhance it. Instead of eating a traditional “three meals per day,” golfers can benefit from learning to eat several small meals over the course of the day. This process helps to train the body to take in energy in small doses and use that energy more efficiently. Here’s how you can do this: It’s easy. Change your choice selections to healthy snacks and drink lots of water on the course. I know you’re thinking there’s more to it but there really isn’t. Your body needs readily available energy every 2-3 hours and by eating smaller regular meals one can increase the metabolism to ensure you continue to burn whatever you eat. So it’s very simple. Instead of taking a coke or beer and chips, next time the drinks cart goes around take 2 pieces of fruit, a nutrition bar and a bottle of water every time you play. Make it a habit! Your water consumption should be very consistent throughout the round. If it’s a 500ml water bottle your taking from the cart you should be taking a new one every 2 – 3 holes minimum. The first few times you do this you may need to visit the course restroom a few times but stick with it. Your bladder will strengthen over the months and as your body adjusts you’ll find the restroom visits will be less frequent. Dehydration occurs much sooner than you think. Here’s a very simple rule of thumb. Make a mental note of what time you ate your last meal before you got to the course. If you’re like most people I’ll bet 2-3 hours have already gone by at hole number 3. Time for a snack. What if you’re not hungry? Eat it anyway! A piece of fruit is ONLY 80-100 calories - so even if you’re not hungry it won’t seem like much. Then what? Check your watch and after two more hours have gone by and eat that nutrition bar. This will be at hole 11 or 12. Watch out because you might hit that next drive 300 yards with all that energy that you’re not used to having. That might do you but if you get the hunger pangs eat that last piece of fruit at the 16th hole. This will keep your blood sugar levels constant and enable you to stay focused those last couple of holes. Follow my recommendations and watch what happens. Golf nutrition is KEY! You’ll have much MORE energy throughout the whole round and not waste any shots that will balloon your score. You’ll soon be a believer in fuelling your body for performance. The next time you go out be careful; you might just shoot your “all-time” best score.
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golf news
MCB Tournament
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a MCB, banque commerciale mauricienne, s’est laissée séduire par les étendues de green des quatre coins de l’île. Sa première incursion dans le monde golfique en 2007 s’étant avéré un succès, la MCB a réitéré l’expérience en octobre 2008, en organisant sa compétition de golf sur invitation à l’intention de ses clients. C’est le green du Château de Bel Ombre qui a accueilli ce tournoi riche en émotions. Clients et banquiers se sont retrouvés hors des cloisons du bureau, dans un environnement plus propice au dialogue et à l’échange.
l’année précédente, les golfeurs, dont certains étaient des employés de la MCB, ont fait montre de leurs talents, marquant le coup et donnant le ton pour une éventuelle troisième année de golf…
La compétition a réuni une soixantaine de golfeurs, tous inscrits selon la méthode Stableford Full Handicap, Four Ball, Better Ball. Contrairement à la précédente édition, chaque équipe était constituée de deux golfeurs. Plusieurs défis leur ont été proposés sur le parcours, avec des prix alléchants à la clé. La compétition s’est disputée dans une ambiance chaleureuse. De démonstration en démonstration, c’est le golfeur qui régnait en maître, étalant un ensemble d’efficacité et de dextérité. Une demijournée plus tard, la comptabilisation des points effectuée, la paire gagnante était Shyam Kumar Surat (handicap 24) et Well Lam Po Tang (handicap 12). Ils ont tout deux remporté un magnifique séjour golfique pour deux personnes à Sun City en Afrique du Sud. En ce qui concerne les défis en jeu, le fameux Hole-in-One doté de la coquette somme d’un million de roupies, n’a pas trouvé preneur. Mais autant que
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educed by the golf courses around Mauritius, the Mauritius Commercial Bank renewed its partnership one year after its induction in 2007. Hence, for the second consecutive year, the MCB organized a golf competition for its employees and clients. It was on the green of the Château de Bel Ombre that this memorable event took place last October. And it was an opportunity for bankers and clients to meet in a convivial atmosphere other than the four walls of an office.
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winner for the one million rupees prize. However, this competition was a good opportunity to discover new talents among the participants especially those from the bank. The players were so enthusiastic after the game, that it is undeniable that the 3rd edition will soon be held.
Registered according to the Stableford Full Handicap- Four Ball, Better ball, there were more than sixty participants for this tournament. However, it was different from that of the 1st edition whereby the golfers were divided into two groups and thus received prizes for each challenge they succeeded at different points on the golf course. The competition was entertaining but at the same time very professional. And from show to show, it was like the golfer’s day where every golfer did their best to improve their score. After a whole day of competition, it is Shyam Kumar Surat (handicap 24) and Well Lam Po Tang (handicap 12) who won the game in their respective category. Both of them won a wonderful stay for two at the Sun City in South Africa. Like in 2007, no one succeeded the challenge in putting a Hole-In-One; therefore, there was no
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••• Trends & Tech Trends & Tech...Trends & Tech...Trends & Tech...Trends & Tech...Trends &
La paille naturelle au service du golf, pour ce chapeau et cette visière, comblera vos envies d’originalité. Grâce à sa texture aérée, aucune sensation de chaleur ne viendra vous perturber. (Disponibles au proshop du Tamarina Golf Estate & Beach Club) Ce chapeau ultraléger en coton et paille papier arbore des stries dorés pour s’adapter à vos tenues golf les plus chics. (Disponible au proshop du Tamarina Golf Estate & Beach Club)
Ces photos nous ont été fournies par Emotions Golf Events représentant exclusif des marques de vêtements, MASTERS GOLF-FASHION, DAILY SPORTS et ROHNISCH, à l’île Maurice.
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Golf portrait
President of the Mauritius Golf Federation
Mr Raj Ramlakhan
His love of Golf began in 1966, Raj Ramlakhan, now aged 74 is the current President of the Mauritius Golf Federation and the only internationally qualified golf Referee in Mauritius. This month we spoke with Raj about the previous roles and objectives of the Federation, and the intended changes for the New Year. The Mauritius Golf Federation was formed in 1994 by the Minister of Sports Mr Michael Glover, whom emphasised the importance of promoting Golf with a recognized organisation. The Mauritius Golf Federation has been a certified member of the International Golf Federation for the past three years. The main objective of the Federation is to develop Golf in Mauritius and promote the game of golf to the people of Mauritius. “The Federation is not concerned with the actual creation of Golf Courses but to make possible for lots of people to take up and to play golf.”
The initial step to introduce Golf to the public was taken by organising Open Golf Tournaments in conjunction with the Clubs and Hotels, making golf accessible to everyone. “So our main objective was to get people who cannot afford to play golf onto the golf course.” They also have an active role in ensuring that Golf etiquette is applied and upheld for tournaments as well as being responsible for selecting the national teams who have to play elsewhere to represent Mauritius. “For the future I have talked to the RNA (Royal and Ancient of St Andrews) to bring some of their coaches over to teach the existing coaches and to arrange seminars in order to get proper training for our coaches. We have also talked with the South African Organisation about sending some Mauritian people over to train as greenkeepers. As this is the most important job of any Golf Course.” “Golf is a slow game – it takes a bit of thinking” however Mr Ramlakhan notes that the movements of
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Golf portrait
Mr Ramlakhan believes that Golf is one way of capitalising on business through the interrelationship of conversations. “I know Golf is one of the few games where you can play on your own but its far better when you finish playing to have someone to talk to when you are taking a beer. I think the idea of Golf is talking business if you have the time and more when you finish on the 19th hole.” Golf is still his greatest pleasure and he encourages all to take up the game no matter what their age. He believes that everyone can and should play Golf and that “if you are not in bed you can still play.” “When you read the rule book for Golf you start not with the rules you start with an introduction to the Golf rules which is entitled ‘Etiquette and Behaviour on the Golf Course’. Etiquette means courtesy and consideration for others - now this has to really be put in the mind of everybody”
the Golf Federation cannot be as slow as the game of Golf or their goals will not be accomplished. Mr Ramlakhan is adamant that golf has a bright future within Mauritius, however it depends on the commitment of local golfers for an ongoing success.“I think the federation would not be able to achieve all these things if the golfers themselves do to contribute to the principle of golf, to the globalisation of golf as a disciple. There is a necessity to have this institution to organise and take actions if necessary for the good of all golfers against certain golfers who do not comply with the rules.” Mr Ramlakhan strives to establish more independent golf Courses in Mauritius for the general public and tourists. “I think it is a good thing to have independent golf courses where tourists who don’t stay in hotels can play – this is lacking in Mauritius. I think one or two independent golf courses would do a lot of good to the tourism industry.” The federation also takes an active role in encouraging the youth of Mauritius to take up the game and is currently working on a project with the Ministry of Sports and Youth to allow for school children to participate in Golf as part of their sports activities. “The key is to teach the youngsters at an early age to get them into the game of golf.”
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••• Swing it! Golfing tips and strategy Courtesy of Tee Off Ltd
GAVIN MINKLEY
PGA PROFESSIONAL • useful tips around the greens Most golf courses around the world today present various types of lies caused by the variety of grasses being used when building golf courses.
Set up - use your normal putting grip and stance choke down for comfortable feel
We often faced with lies that are indifferent to when we practice. We find tight lies, fluffy lies bare patches and many others.
Keep your head still during the stroke back and through...
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Swing it!
Back and through - keep the club low back and through just like a normal putting stroke
Back swing, impact, through swing. Your swing should be that of a long putt back and through keeping your head a still as possible, be sure not to peak and look up causing a miss hit. The loft of the rescue club gets the ball more airborne than that of your putter
Since the introduction of the lob wedge, I see so many players reach for the lob wedge without considering other options or assessing the ground conditions prior to playing the shot. Choosing the right option for the various, ground conditions will surely make you a more accomplished player. Before heading out onto the course, spend some time getting to master your chips with the rescue club
Thought of the month... The vast majority of golfers grossly over use the right hand in the swing. After all most golfers are right handed and “right sided”. They allow the strong right hand and side to dominate the swing.
Grip ball position - One can use your conventional golf grip or putting grip. Ball position as per putting position
A FREE SWING OF THE LEFT HAND AND ARM IS THE BASIS OF THE GOLF ACTION. The right hand and arm never acts independently in the swing. Its proper role is one of co-ordination with the left hand and arm. The hands should work together as a unit...with the left hand in control.
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Tee Off Golf Packages FF
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Ladies
golf
Emotions ladies cup
premiere Tamarina Golf Estate and Beach Club hosted the Emotions Ladies Cup Thursday the 23rd of October, 2008. Divided into nine teams of four ladies, each team will be meeting over the next twelve months on various golf courses around the island to compete. This competition is the first of its kind within Mauritius, allowing the participants to represent their individual clubs under the guidance of the Ladies Golf Union. he Ladies have been able to confront fairways and greens of Tamarina Golf Club for 4 hours. Each of the teams selected a team name: The “Châtelaines de Bel Ombre”, the “Butterflies I du Gymkhana”, the “Butterflies II du Gymkhana”, the “Big Easy d’Anahita”, the “Perdrix de Tamarina”, the “Pink Birdies du Legend”, the “Cailles du Links”, the “Didines du Dodo” and the “Vahinés du Paradis”. This first round of the Emotions Ladies Cup the players are on even par. As the competition is stretched over the span of the coming 12 months, the results of each competitive round will be accumulated to determine the winning team as the competition is completed. As the results from the first round were gathered, it was evident that certain teams will need to maximize their practice time before the next round of competition. The winning team Butterflies I du Gymkhana with a score of 97 narrowly beating second place team Perdrix de Tamarina, by one point. Congratulations to winning team of the first round of the Emotions Ladies Cup! As the competition has only just begun good luck to all competing teams over the next seven rounds yet to come!
Le coup d’envoi de la première édition de l’Emotions Ladies Cup a été donné le jeudi 23 octobre 2008 au Tamarina Golf Estate & Beach Club. Neuf équipes constituées chacune de quatre joueuses croiseront donc le fer lors de cette compétition étalée sur douze mois. Elles fouleront les meilleurs parcours de golf de l’île à cet effet. L’événement a été accueilli avec beaucoup d’enthousiasme car il permettra pour la première fois à ces Ladies de défendre les couleurs de leurs clubs lors d’une compétition d’envergure. Pour la touche typiquement féminine, chaque équipe s’est attribuée un charmant surnom : Les “Châtelaines de Bel Ombre”, les “Butterflies I du Gymkhana”, les “Butterflies II du Gymkhana”, les “Big Easy d’Anahita”, les “Perdrix de Tamarina”, les “Pink Birdies du Legend”, les “Cailles du Links”, les “Didines du Dodo” et les “Vahinés du Paradis”. Cette première édition de l’Emotion Ladies Cup semble très ouverte, car toutes les participantes ont le potentiel pour décrocher le titre de champion. Elles vont de ce fait donner le meilleur d’elles-mêmes pour ramener le trophée dans leur escarcelle. Les golfeuses ont donné le ton en faisant parler leur drive sur le practice lors du coup d’envoi qui s’est tenu dans d’excellentes conditions climatiques. Les Ladies ont pu affronter les fairways et les greens du Tamarina Golf Club durant 4 heures. L’équipe championne du jour était Les Butterflies I du Gymkhana, qui ont remporté 97 points stableford devançant d’un point Les Perdrix de Tamarina. Bravo à elles, mais le spectacle ne fait que commencer et il faudra tenir le rythme pendant encore 7 tours.
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Interview
Arnaud Godère O.S.K
F
S
ollowing its corporatisation, The Mauritius Post is better equipped to face the new challenges of entering the global corporate market. With more than 42 million rupees of profit recorded for the financial year 2007-08, the company is today a competitive organisation. In addition, The Mauritius Post received the coveted 2008 Gold Award at the congress of The Universal Postal Union. According to Arnaud Godère O.S.K, Chairman of The Mauritius Post, this was a well-deserved reward. He dedicates this success to the team work and maintains that the focus of MPL is to improve the quality of service of the company.
uivant la corporatisation, la Mauritius Post semble être plus armée à faire face aux nouveaux défis de la mondialisation. Avec plus de 42 millions de roupies de profit enregistré pendant l’année financière 2007-08, la compagnie est aujourd’hui à nouveau compétitif. D’autre part, la Mauritius Post a été décernée le Gold Award lors de l’édition 2008 du congrès de L’Union Postale Universelle. Une récompense bien méritée selon Arnaud Godère O.S.K, président du conseil d’administration de la Mauritius Post, qui attribue cette réussite à un travail d’équipe axé sur l’amélioration de la qualité des services. Interview.
“ Sustaining the modernisation of The Mauritius Post “
“ Soutenir la modernisation de la Poste “
Arnaud Godère, it has been three years since you were appointed chairman of the Mauritius Post, what is your assessment of the progress it has made?
Arnaud Godère, voila trois ans que vous êtes à la tête de la Mauritius Post, quel est votre bilan ?
I am rather satisfied with our progress. When I was given the responsibility of leading Mauritius Post in 2005, the company had a deficit of more than three hundred million rupees. We thus had to urgently put in place a contingency plan and in parallel build a Roadmap. We diligently worked all the way down the line in order to reverse this dire situation. Our strategies proved to be good and in June 2007, we
Je suis plutôt satisfait de notre parcours. Lorsque j’avais pris le commandement de la Mauritius Post en 2005, J’avais la charge d’une compagnie avec un déficit de plus de trois cent millions de roupies. Nous avions établi un Roadmap et le travail avait démarré pour renverser la vapeur. Nos stratégies se sont avérées bonnes et en juin 2007, nous avions déclaré Rs. 50 millions de profit après taxe alors que pour la dernière année financière, nous avons fait des profits de Rs. 42 millions. De plus, la Mauritius
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••• Interview declared Rs. 50 million profits after tax whereas for the last financial year, we recorded a profit of Rs. 42 million. It is to be noted that The Mauritius Post received the coveted Gold Award from the Universal Post Union in 2008. This award confirmed the perseverance and devotion of the employees at The Mauritius Post Ltd. You spoke about a Roadmap for the progress of The Mauritius Post, can you elaborate on what exactly this consisted of? The board of The Mauritius Post approved a Roadmap in order to improve the financial status of the company. The adopted strategies comprised inter alia a revision of our tariffs in line with our production costs. We have also diversified our products in order to offer a whole range of services to our customers. Our commitment is to make the company competitive enough in both local and international markets. Our employees were at the centre of our Road Map and as such, we have invested in their training and empowerment with an aim of increasing efficiency and to provide the best services to satisfy our clientele. When speaking of modernisation, we have a tendency to relate it Information Technology. What about the safety measures of this system? Our objective is above all to modernize the 107 branches of The Mauritius Post including the five in Rodrigues and one in Agaléga. We have computerized most our services and the counter service as well. In this perspective, we purchased the software from Escher Company. The latter and our IT team handle all aspects of security in our IT environment. Tell us more about the vision and the mission of The Mauritius Post? Our vision above all is to have a modern post office offering high value added services that respond to the changing needs of the public. We wish to offer a top-notch service to our customers to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. The quality of the services will definitively be a push in the right direction to increase our business and promote our image. The board also has the duty to ensure that The Mauritius Post remains profitable (15% of return on the capital), although the government holds the major part of the actions. A big challenge that the majority of the stations throughout the world have to face is the opening of the markets. Do you trust that The Mauritius Post is prepared for this kind of change?
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Post a également reçu, cette année, un Gold Award lors de l’Union Postale Universelle. Ce prix vient récompenser l’assiduité et le dévouement de tous les employés de la Mauritius Post Ltd. Ici je voudrais aussi saluer le dialogue social exceptionnel qui règne à la Mauritius Post. Vous avez parlé d’un Roadmap pour la compagnie. Pourriez-vous nous dire en quoi consiste ce plan ? Le board de la Mauritius Post a, en effet, approuvé un Roadmap pour rendre la compagnie viable. Parmi les stratégies adoptées, il y avait aussi une révision de nos tarifs afin de refléter nos coûts de production. Nous avons également diversifié nos produits afin d’offrir toute une gamme de services à notre clientèle. Nous oeuvrons pour que la poste soit compétitive à la fois sur le marché local et international. De plus, nous avons investi dans la formation de nos employés afin qu’ils soient le plus efficient dans leur travail pour donner le meilleur service à notre clientèle. Qui dit moderne, dit aussi la technologie de l’informatique. Qu’en est-il de la sécurité de ce système ? Notre objectif est avant tout de moderniser les 107 succursales de la Mauritius Post dont les cinq à Rodrigues et un à Agaléga. Plus de la moitié de nos services sont aujourd’hui orientés vers l’informatique. Pour cela, nous nous sommes associés à la compagnie Escher, qui s’occupe de tout ce qui concerne la maintenance et la sécurité de notre système informatique. Parlez-nous un peu plus sur la vision et la mission de la Mauritius Post? Notre vision est avant tout d’avoir une poste moderne car sa survie en dépend. Nous voulons également offrir un service de qualité à nos clients pour nous distinguer de nos compétiteurs et offrir un service identique dans nos succursales. La qualité des services sera définitivement un coup de pouce à notre image. Le board a également pour mission de s’assurer que la Mauritius Post soit profitable (15% de revenu sur la capitale), bien que le gouvernement détient la majeure partie des actions. Un grand défi que la plupart des postes à travers le monde ont à faire face est l’ouverture des marchés. Croyez vous que la Mauritius Post est préparée pour ce genre de changement? La décision du World Trade Organisation de libéraliser les postes à partir de 2011 en Europe est
Interview True, the decision of World Trade Organization to liberalize the stations as from 2011 in Europe is a major challenge for The Mauritius Post in the coming years. It is only now that we are reaping the fruits of our past strategies. In my opinion, we are not all set; there is still room for improvement in our quest to enhance our competitiveness on the market. As a member of The Postal Universal Union, The Mauritius Post has not only to engage itself on a national basis, but also in the region as well. What do you think about it? Indeed. Although our marketing strategy aims mainly the local customers, we are not altogether oblivious of the regional scope and we definitely have our eyes set on the region. Our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Giandev Moteea is the president of SAPOA-South African Postal Operators Association. He meets regularly the countries of the Southern African postal industry to share experience and improve service in the region. This is a powerful network which we shall tap even more in the years to come. And what about the corporate responsibility of the company?
social
We are associated to several benevolent and sporting organizations as well as the `Blood Donors Association’. The latter mainly promotes the collection of blood regularly. We also take part with the ICTA (Information & Communication Technologies Authority), in a project to bridge the digital divide through our post offices. This is essentially targeted to our fellowmen who do not have access to computers and the world wide web at home. Last but not least, any projects coming up in the near future for The Mauritius Post? We want to position The Mauritius Post as a bench mark for the Southern African region. Several projects are already underway, in particular settingup of a `Postal Academy’. I would like The Mauritius Post to become a `learning organisation’ and this not only for our employees, but also for those in the region. We want to also establish a system of Post Code in the country. We are also working on a project to build a Postal Cyber Tower in Cyber City in Ebene. The project is nearing completion. The cherry on the cake: The board of directors has a dream to see The Mauritius Post listed on the stock exchange and making our employees participate in the shareholding of the company.
un défi à relever pour la Mauritius Post à l’avenir. Ce n’est que maintenant que nous commençons à récolter les fruits d’un travail de longue haleine. A mon avis, nous ne sommes pas prêts, nous avons encore du chemin à faire pour augmenter notre compétitivité sur le marché. En tant que membre de l’Universal Postal Union, la Mauritius Post a non seulement un rôle national à jouer, mais également régional. Qu’en pensez-vous ? Effectivement. Bien que notre stratégie de marketing vise en grande partie la clientèle locale, nous avons également un rôle régional à jouer. Notre directeur général M. Giandev Moteea est le président de la SAPOA-South African Postal Operators Association (Association des opérateurs postaux du Sud de l’Afrique). De ce fait, il rencontre régulièrement, les pays voisins, membres de l’association lors des conférences pour échanger leur savoir faire et leur expertise. Et qu’en est-il de la responsabilité sociale de votre entreprise? Nous sommes associés avec plusieurs organisations charitables et sportives ainsi que la ‘Blood Donors Association’ afin de promouvoir la collecte de sang régulièrement. Nous participons aussi avec l’ICTA, dans un projet de promouvoir l’accès à l‘Internet à travers nos bureaux de poste, à ceux n’ayant pas un ordinateur chez eux. Pour terminer, quels sont les projets de la Mauritius Post dans un proche avenir ? Nous voulons positionner la Mauritius Post comme une référence dans la région. Plusieurs projets ont déjà été enclenchés notamment la mise sur pied d’un ‘Postal Academy’. Je voudrais que la Mauritius Post devienne un ‘learning organisation’ et ce non seulement pour nos employés, mais aussi pour les postiers de la région. Nous voulons aussi établir un system de Post Code dans le pays. Nous avons également entrepris des démarches pour la construction d’un Postal Cyber Tower à la Cyber Tour à Ebène. Le projet est à un stade avancé et devrait voir le jour dans un avenir proche. Nous ambitionons de faire nos employés participer dans l’actionnariat de la compagnie, sans oublier que le conseil d’administration souhaite concrétiser un jour le rêve de voir notre poste cotée en bourse.
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