Oleh/By		:	DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat/Venue 	: 	GOVERNMENT HOUSE PORT LOUIS 
Tarikh/Date 	: 	16/08/88 
Tajuk/Title  	: 	THE OPENING OF OFFICIAL TALKS WITH 
			HIS EXCELLENCY SIR ANEROOD 
			JUGNAUTH THE PRIME MINISTER 
			OF MAURITIUS 





 Your Excellency;
Honourable Ministers;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
    It  is  indeed  a  great  pleasure for me to visit your
beautiful country.  I would like to take this opportunity to
thank Your Excellency for your  kind  invitation  to  me  to
visit  Mauritius.  I must say I have been looking forward to
making this visit which I regret could not  be  made  at  an
earlier  time.  Now that I am here it is my hope that during
our stay here members of the Malaysian Delegation and I will
be able to see as much of your country as possible.  I  also
hope  that  in  the  course of our deliberations, we will be
able to identify and  explore  possibilities  for  enhancing
political,  economic  and  cultural co-operation between our
two countries.
2.   Although our countries are separated by a  vast  ocean,
the  distance  between  us  have  now  been  bridged  by the
launching of the joint service  between  Air  Mauritius  and
Malaysian  Airlines.   I hope with the launching of this air
service   between   our   countries   it   will   facilitate
communication  between  our  peoples  and lead to closer and
enhanced relations between us.
Your Excellency,
3.   Our two countries share  common  colonial  experiences.
Both  Mauritius and Malaysia are made up of plural societies
in  a  racial,  linguistic  and  religious   sense.      Our
Governments  are  equally  committed  to  achieving national
unity, rapid economic growth and a better  quality  of  life
for our peoples.
4.   Our  peoples'  livelihood  is  dependent,  to  a  large
extent, on the export of our primary  commodities  which  is
constantly affected by fluctuations in price and uncertainty
in  market  access.    We are often at the receiving end and
naturally feel being  short-changed  by  the  industrialised
countries.
5.   Both  our  countries  wish  to  be  less susceptible or
vulnerable to such sharp practices.  The obvious thing to do
is  to   diversify   our   economies   by   venturing   into
manufacturing   and  at  the  same  time  strengthening  our
services industry.  Malaysia on her part  has  sought,  like
Mauritius,  to  build  up  her  tourism, shipping, aviation,
insurance and banking and financial sectors.  I am confident
that we can share and pool our expertise in these fields for
our mutual benefit.
6.   Having said all this, I wish to assure you,  Mr.  Prime
Minister,  that we come here with an open mind to listen, to
candidly discuss and conclude such understandings as may  be
mutually  beneficial  to our two countries.  I trust that we
can  proceed  with  our  deliberations  in   a   spirit   of
friendship, trust and sincerity.