Diplomacy | Meeting with the French Ambassador, Frédéric Bontemps — A new embassy for expanding cooperation

On the occasion of the celebration of the French National Day of July 14 and on the eve of the great popular festival organized on July 12 at the Promenade de Telfair, open to all Mauritians, the French Ambassador to Mauritius, Frédéric Bontems met with the written and spoken press on Wednesday.

Beyond the presentation of this event, which should bring together nearly 10,000 people, the diplomat took stock of his three years of mission in Mauritius, marked by an unprecedented strengthening of Franco-Mauritian cooperation through, among others, the official visit of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to Mauritius. A few weeks before his departure, scheduled for the end of August, he also announced the opening, in a month, of the new premises of the French embassy in Telfair, in Moka, symbol of a bilateral relationship set to be further consolidated.

Many projects had been announced, notably on the sidelines of President Macron's visit to Mauritius. Where are we today in their deployment?

All announced projects are currently being implemented. I am thinking in particular of our actions in the field of water with the AFD (French Development Agency), which are deployed both in Mauritius and in Rodrigues. We are carrying a new investment program of 120 million euros for the water sector, which we hope to implement this year. This project combines a loan of 100 million euros from AFD and a donation of 20 million euros from the European Union, with the aim of improving the distribution and management of water in Mauritius.

Announced actions are now being implemented with La-Réunion, particularly in terms of maritime security. We have signed agreements which allow the French forces in La-Réunion – the FAZSOI (Armed Forces of the Southern Zone of the Indian Ocean) – to collaborate closely on the ground with the Mauritian coast guard. This concrete cooperation has made it possible, in recent months, to make significant drug seizures. By jointly mobilizing FAZSOI ships and Mauritian Dornier surveillance planes, we were able to spot traffickers and board ships carrying large shipments of narcotics. This is a very concrete example of the effectiveness of our partnership.

Beyond the security aspect, our cooperation is strongly expressed in the cultural field. This is the case of the partnership between the Museum of Intercontinental Slavery in Port-Louis and the Museum of Villèle in La-Réunion, which recently resulted in a joint exhibition in Mauritius.

Furthermore, we actively collaborate with the Mauritian authorities and private sector on a heritage preservation policy. Announced in the Prime Minister's last budgetary speech, this initiated