Chinese Government provides RMB 130 million grant for Culture House Project and Technical and Vocational Education Training Project (Linked to Record ID#87622)

Project narrative

On September 12, 2013, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Xavier-Luc Duval and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Peoples’ Republic of China, H.E Mr Li Li signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which formally committed an 50 million interest-free loan with the following terms: 20 year maturity, 10 year grace period, and 0% interest rate (see Record ID#87622). At the time that the agreement was signed, the Government of Mauritius announced that the loan proceeds would be used to support Culture House Project and Technical and Vocational Education Training Project. Then, in 2014, according to the 2015-2016 Ministry of Finance reports, the Chinese Government provided another grant for the Culture House Project and Technical and Vocational Education Training Project worth RMB 130 million. The Culture House Project (also known as the National Archives and the National Library Project) was to originally involve the construction of a new building at the Jin Fei Economic Zone on Riche Terre as discussed in the early 2000s; however, as of Mauritius' Sixth National Assembly Parliamentary Debate on April 9, 2015, the grant had not been disbursed. Also at this meeting, it was clarified that the previous political administration had requested the Culture House Project be built in Réduit rather than the Jin Fei Economic Zone. The project was to move forward in Réduit. The current National Archives and the National Library lacks the necessary infrastructure and equipment for the purpose of storing and preserving archival records. The country’s national documentary heritage is exposed to continuous and gradual deterioration in the buildings which they presently occupy. The Culture House Project will seek to address this problem by constructing a state of the art building that can accommodate the National Archives Department and the National Library, two institutions that both operate under the aegis of the Ministry of Arts and Culture of the Republic of Mauritius. The Vocational Education Training Project will involve the setting up of a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Centre in Mahebourg. In May 2016, the Government of Mauritius reportedly submitted an RMB 70 million proposal to the Chinese Government for additional funding to move forward with the Culture House Project.