Manufacturing Industry

50 years of impressive journey and considered as the catalyst of industrialisation in Mauritius, the Textile & Apparel industry remains a major contributor to Foreign Exchange Earning (Goods) through exports, an important employment generator and a significant contributor to the Mauritian Economy.

Today, the Textile & Apparel sector boasts a State-of-the-Art Technology. Over the last five decades, it has innovated its offerings from a basic Cut-Make to a Full Package Production with Vertically Integrated suppliers that are adhering to international Standards such as Oekotex, REACH, HIGG Index, Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals, Fair Trade, among many others.

The Textile & Apparel sector has earned a reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality product and is supplying to renown international fashion brands such as Armani, Rodd & Gunn, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, CK, Woolworth, Truworths, Cape Union, Promod, Pierre Cardin, M&S, Fabiani, among many others.

The efficiency, expertise, and agility of the sector have contributed to positioning Mauritius as a Textile  Hub  parexcellence  in Southern & Eastern Africa, making our success story a business model that is currently being benchmarked across Africa.

Mauritius produces a wide range of Textile & Apparel products at varying price points, with a focus on quality that includes T-shirts, lingerie and loungewear, shirts, sportswear, trousers and denim, children’s wear, pullovers, uniforms, and beachwear to name a few.

Mauritius stands as one of the few countries that produces both Agricultural Rums (a rum distilled from the juice of fresh-cut sugar cane) & Traditional Rums (molasses-based rums). With such a rich seam of history and heritage to draw on, Mauritian spirits are well placed to capitalize on this trend, offering a broad range of styles and flavours. Mauritius makes some truly exceptional rums, but where it stands out from its competitors, is in its infusions. In line with the vision of graduating the offering of the classic Mauritian Rum to a new level of sophistication, a large variety of infused rums has been introduced, which uses the island’s local fruits and spices, such as Queen Victoria pineapples, vanilla beans, coffee, ginger, chillies, coconut and passion fruits. As opposed to tasting like a sweet syrup, the outcome is a flavoursome, palatable spirit with hints of coffee, roasted vanilla, spicy chilli and tart passion fruit.

Rum forms part of Mauritius’ cultural heritage. Today, we have a range of over 35 rums and rum related products which have performed exceptionally in international tasting competitions such as London Spirits Competition, China Wine & Spirit Awards, The Spirits Business, World Rum Awards, World Spirits Awards, German Rum Award, Ultimate Spirits Challenge and International Wine & Spirit Competition amongst others and our rums are distributed in over 10 countries in Europe and internationally.

The Jewellery sector today has emerged as an important pillar in the manufacturing industry, employing around 2500 workers. The export-oriented enterprises are involved in the cutting and polishing of diamonds, manufacturing of luxury and high-quality jewellery made up of 18 karat gold, silver, diamond and precious stones and also fine costume jewellery. They demonstrate a special know-how by combining a clever mix of high-tech, manual and traditional manufacturing techniques.

The Light Engineering sector contributes to the industrial industry of the country by producing spare parts, small capital machinery, industrial materials and repair services to sustain other industrial, domestic, services or retail sectors. This sector is categorized under major subsectors namely Paints and Chemicals, Printing and Packaging, OEMs, Plastic products, Metal fabrication products, Furniture products and Electronics. Players together offer around 500 products that include agro and industrial chemicals, plastic products, switches, sockets, light sheds, channels, visors and gaskets, cables and pipes, providing critical support to various industries by manufacturing a wide range of high precision parts, castings, moulds and dices, fittings as well as light machinery that meet stringent norms and standards.

With largely capital-intensive setup, unique and IP protected high value products, the sector boasts some 280 large establishments. With major operators employing around 16,725 persons, representing around 25% of the total number of jobs generated by the manufacturing sector, the Light Engineering sector is poised to become one of the key pillars of the economy.

Mauritius has a total maritime zone of 2.3 million square kilometers with an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.96 million square kilometers and a continental shelf of 396,000 square kilometers co-managed with the Republic of Seychelles.

The Mauritius seafood hub has facilities for trading, transshipment, storage and warehousing, processing, distribution and re-export of fresh, chilled and frozen raw or value-added seafood products. Fish products includes canned tuna, pre-cooked vacuum-packed tuna loins, frozen tuna loins/steaks, frozen fish fillets, fresh chilled whole fish/fish fillets, smoked fish, salted fish, fish oil and fish meal.