Yogesh Singh elected new chairman of the MEXA

Yogesh Singh, owner and director of Explast Ltd, has been elected as the new chairman of the Mauritius Export Association (MEXA). His predecessor, Philip Ryle, held this post for two consecutive years. It was at Labourdonnais Hotel on Wednesday that MEXA held its 10th general assembly, an opportunity to introduce new members of the Board and to announce upcoming developments. This year, the chair of the MEXA has been allocated to Yogesh Singh, director of Explast Ltd, one of the leading local producers of high quality plastic bags and major supplier to the export companies. During his speech, the businessman highlighted that 2016 will be an interesting year, especially with MEXA growing year on year, be it in terms of membership, diversity, goodwill – both at national and international levels –, and the growing expectations of its members. “However, the growing concern of our exporters remains the uncertain labour-related threat of the NRB’s proposal of a 30% wage hike, not to mention the tedious procedures in the recruitment and employment of expatriate workers,” he says. The latter also welcomes the Africa-Asia air corridor project which he assumes will be a game changer for the country from an air cargo perspective. According to him, if the Africa-Mauritius air route is developed, the corridor project will propel Mauritius as a regional cargo hub. On trade policy, he says that MEXA would certainly like to see a renewed dynamism in the relationship with its trading partners. “It is a fact that trade preferences forms the linchpin of our total export revenue of some Rs 81 billion, including sugar exports. We certainly would like to see further development in our trade negotiations which will pave the way for the diversification of our markets,” he says. Yogesh Singh will be seconded by the vice chair, Beas Cheekhooree, Managing Director of Harel Mallac Export Ltd and General Manager of MCFI Group, one of the largest exporters to the African continent. Three upcoming projects Last year, MEXA launched the Dual Training Project. It was a pioneering project bringing together academia and industry. “We are pleased to say that this project is a success and that MEXA will be soon launching three new projects based on DTP, namely Refrigeration, Micro-mechanics and Logistics,” announced the director of MEXA, Lilowtee Rajmun. MEXA will be working with the University of Mauritius, University of Mascareignes and Charles Telfair Institute. As a result, job opportunities for approximately 70 young people will be created. A new logo of the MEXA was also launched on the occasion. MEXA Export Credit Insurance MEXA Board has taken another challenge onboard. In fact, according to the director, members face multiple difficulties daily in their activities. To be able to compete with large international suppliers, to retain clients or to enter new markets, members export their goods on credit terms and as such, expose themselves to the risk of defaults by their clients. The aftermath of the 2008-2009 economic crisis on our exporting markets, she says, is huge and remains a major concern for us. Therefore, MEXA has signed an agreement with Coface on the 23 February this year. This global leader in export credit insurance will offer MEXA members an effective tool protect and grow their business. Coface solution is not just a protection against bad debts but also provides privileged information on client reliability to the banks and is an important marketing tool. In this context, MEXA proceeded to the launch the MEXA Export Credit Insurance Scheme for the export community. It is a master policy from which members can benefit and shield themselves again financial risk.