Mauritius to invest in 'cyber cities'

Mauritius has diversified into tourism, textiles and financial services

Mauritius is to look to the information technology sector to help boost its flagging economic growth.

Mr Jugnauth wants to modernise the economy

It is planning the creation of several "cyber cities" where hi-tech facilities are concentrated and wants to be seen as a "cyber island" Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth told the BBC's World Business Report.

Major investment is planned in areas such as worker training to ensure the country is the ideal location for companies to site technology services such as call centres.

Mr Jugnauth said Mauritius is getting advice from India where a similar strategy has been employed.

Diversification

Mauritius gained independence in 1968 and in the early years had an economy which was heavily dependent on sugar.

But the country diversified successfully into textiles, tourism and financial services, and growth has been steady at over 5% each year since the early 1980s.

Now partly due to the global slowdown and the effects of 11 September growth the economy has begun to slow.

Mauritius has also faced increased competition in the textile sector, particularly from the Asian economies.

Mr Jugnauth said Mauritius is modernising its textile industry to compete, including producing more value added goods.