Republic of Mauritius- Mauritius to sign agreement in the field of research with France

The signatories of the Agreement on the Franco-Mauritian scientific and research cooperation “Hubert Curien Partenariat (PHC)”, and co-financing between the two states, will be the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, and the Ambassador of France to Mauritius, Mr Emmanuel Cohet. The signing ceremony will be held tomorrow at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebène.

The partnership is an interministerial initiative of the French Government, namely the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research and Innovation. Mauritius will hence join the 55 countries of the world signatories of the PHC, including six in Africa, namely three in Maghreb and three in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, South Africa and Sudan).

The Hubert Curien Partenariat (PHC) is a bilateral programme financing the mobility of researchers in the framework of joint research projects co-financed with a foreign partner. Widely disseminated and recognised within the French scientific community, the PHC’s priority is to support the initiation of new scientific partnerships between French and foreign teams by encouraging the active participation of young researchers.

With this new PHC France-Mauritius, relations between the two countries will take a new turn, in line with the objectives of the Mauritian government to transform the island into a ‘knowledge hub’, allowing Mauritian researchers to join the international scientific community through innovative research projects of strategic importance to the country.

It is recalled that Mauritius and France has a longstanding relationship and have forged ties over the last 50 years. The first agreement signed between the two states was related to cultural and technical cooperation and was signed in 1968, upon the accession of Mauritius to independence, and has since been considerably strengthened.