President Faure happy with work being done by the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, but need to improve on capacity building, communication and collaboration
May 18, 2018
President Danny Faure said this during his visit to the different departments of the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, this morning. His first place to visit was the Internal Audit at Le Chantier. He was met by the Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, the Secretary of State, Sitna Cesar, the Principal Secretary for Finance, Damien Thesee and the Head of the Internal Audit, Joan Valmont and the Public and Media Consultant, Marie-May Bastienne.
During his visit president Faure met with staff from various departments of the Ministry and was also accompanied by the Principal Secretary for Trade, Cilia Mangroo, Principal Secretary for Economic Planning, Elizabeth Agathine and other senior officers.
The Principal Secretary for Investment, Michael Nalletamby and members of his staff met the president at Liberty House. The Department of Investment recently moved under the portfolio of the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning. The different departments that the President visited comprised of the Import and Export Permit, Postal Services, where the delegation was given a guided tour of the offices and operations by the Chief Executive Officer of the Postal Services, Errol Dias. As has been the case in other departments, the President discussed with staff and got an overview of the working conditions there. Other areas visited were the Economic Planning Department, Financial Planning and Control Division, Public Debt Division, Policy and Strategy Division,Human Resources and Budget management Division, IT Division.
Staff from the deparments pointed out certain issues to the presidential delegation; issues such as office space, human resources, equipment, to name but a few. President Faure assured all that they can count on his support. He stated that the Ministry has a sound basis, with good dedicated technical staff. And that a lot of improvements have been made over the years, since he was the Finance Minister. He saluted the staff and efforts done to provide a better service delivery, and to be more accountable. But, the president said that more needs to be done to improve collaboration, networking and communication among partners, stakeholders and the general public.
On his part, the new Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne conquered and saluted efforts made by staff to provide the required service and encouraged them to aim higher. The delegation afterwards met in a closed sessions in the Conference Room.
The topic of discussions were centred around collaboration, appropriate measures that needs to be taken to address some issues and improve on delivery, capacity building of Ministries, Departments and agencies as well as communication of information to the different target groups. President Faure pointed out that a lot have been invested in the staff here; something that should be continued.
Minister Lalanne thanked the president for his visit and support, stating that the Ministry will try its best to deliver.