SEMINAR ON: “PROFILE & MOTIVATION OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN MAURITIUS”

 

 

 

 

 

I proceeded to the opening of a seminar on “Profile & motivation of women entrepreneurs in Mauritius”  at the seat of the Mauritius Research Council. The Government has set up numerous support schemes thorough SMEDA, DBM and other institutions to support entrepreneurship. It is also a fact that women may sometimes face discrimination and it becomes harder for them to start a business. The  Government has set up an Equal Opportunities Commission to address all forms of discrimination and to safeguard the interest of all citizens who feel aggrieved. Women entrepreneurs play an important role in the economy, both in their ability to create jobs for themselves and to create jobs for others. Self-employment represents an important job alternative for many women and perhaps especially for women in developing economies.   Women entrepreneurship must be examined both at the individual level and at the firm level (the performance of women owned and managed firms) in order to identify the challenges facing them and to devise mechanisms to support them.

‘THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT’

 

 

 

I proceeded to the opening of the ‘International Conference on Higher Education & Economic Development. Last week, we hosted a Post-Secondary and Higher Education leaders’ Forum in the context of the 18^th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers which brought together Vice Chancellors, higher education experts and policy makers. Now, another group of experts, academics and practitioners are gathered here in Mauritius to reflect and share experiences on higher education and economic development. The holding of these meetings show how higher education is gaining importance and the need to develop concerted actions to address the challenges facing this sector. While we aspire to see our higher education reaching new heights and emerging as a full-fledged pillar of the Mauritian economy in the years to come, with the new realities facing higher education we also foresee major obstacles and challenges ahead.  This International Conference, we hope, will shed light on many of the issues we are likely to confront in the future. The participants hopefully will come up with new findings and recommendations that will further add to the existing knowledge and literature.