Discours de Mahen Seeruttun pour l’octri de bourses de la Mauritius Finance.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” This very meaningful quote of Benjamin Franklin bears all relevance to this morning’s event.As Minister for Financial Services and Good Governance, I am honoured to be here for this scholarship award ceremony.

At the very outset, I would wish to extend my warmest congratulations to the 30 scholarship recipients.

This award is undoubtedly a Tribute to hard work as well as Homage to families and teachers who have been indispensable guides on this learning journey.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are assembled here for Education. We are here because we know that Education is key to success

Key for young aspiring professionals, and key to the country’s progress and economic development.

Our scholars are today embarking on a formidable journey into a dynamic, innovative and globally-connected industry.

Dear friends, the success of this Globally-Connected Industry indeed rests on our offerings and our competitiveness.

Our products are here. They are competitive and at par with other jurisdictions.

Frameworks in place for Variable Capital Companies and Virtual Assets, for instance, are testimonies that our jurisdiction is moving with and ahead of its time.

We are set to lead the way in Africa and beyond.

However, as competitive and forward-looking that we may be, we will not be able to move if our People are not Skilled and Competent.

And indeed, our People are truly very competent.

Our professionals are highly-prized in more established jurisdictions such as London and Luxembourg among others

I had the opportunity of saying before and would wish to repeat that I can see our professionals being more and more sought-after and poached internationally.

While it is a matter of pride for us, we need to ensure that we have adequate talent pool at all times to replace those who are leaving in order to service our clients.

It is our mission and our responsibility to ensure that competence is sufficient enough to service our markets and clients.

This is a topic which comes to the fore in most meetings with our colleagues of Mauritius Finance.

I am confident that this scholarship project will help in addressing the skills we require in fund administration and accounting.

I take the opportunity to commend the leadership of Mauritius Finance for committed efforts in supporting the youth of our country.

We must indeed take every possible opportunity to enhance the skills of our youth in order to achieve our economic ambitions.

As a vibrant international financial centre, we build our success on a number of fundamental strengths among which our talented professionals.

And by providing our youth with wider access to quality education and by teaching and empowering them, we are producing the leaders of tomorrow.

And in our pursuit of financial sector resilience, we need to have the best of talent on our side.

The scholarship is in fact a Passport of Opportunities.

But, it also comes with Responsibilities. And Responsibilities to live up to expectations.

Mrs Mallam Hassam from Trident Trust who is with us this morning will agree that there are enormous Global Expectations from the markets and investors we serve.

They expect Competence, Timeliness, Reliability and Integrity.

We hear of Return on Investment, we hear of Return on Equity.

Today, Return on Integrity is becoming increasingly important.

Today’s focus on Integrity and Purpose is shaping the culture and meaning of investment and finance.

And such values will create Trust in our jurisdiction.

Investors need the confidence that their money is being handled with care, responsibly and with integrity.

The challenge for the fund industry is to maintain that Trust.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Since we are in the House of the Regulator, it is good to note that Certifications are an important part of Competency Standards to sign off as professionals.

It is important that we have recognised Certifications for professionals serving in the fund administration space.

As I am on the topic of recognised certifications, we are endeavouring to ensure that the Financial Services Institute, which is the training arm of my Ministry, very soon transitions to Awarding Body.

Again, this decision of Government to make the FSI an awarding body will go a long way to instil a Culture of Trust and Validity in everything we do.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I take the opportunity of this event to welcome Ms Shamima Mallam-Hassam in her new role as Chairperson of Mauritius Finance.

The relationship between Government and the Private Sector has never been so strong and so converging.

Financial services is one of our most important and promising sectors.

It is important that we keep working together to ensure that the Mauritius franchise as an international financial centre remains as strong and resilient as ever.

In closing, I wish to reiterate to our scholarship recipients that this scholarship is not just an Award, it is also a Responsibility.

As you move forward in your academic and professional careers, remember the importance of giving back to your communities and supporting future generations.

You are the leaders of tomorrow, and I have no doubt that you will make a positive impact to the sector and to the economy.

I started my address with a quote from Benjamin Franklin.

Allow me to close with another of his famous quotes. Franklin said (and I quote) “By failing to prepare, we are preparing to fail.” (end of quote).

Ladies and Gentlemen

We are today preparing for a glorious Future for our Youth and our Country.

I thank you for your attention.