In his address, Minister Gungah stressed that the Government is investing massively in training as it is a vital element in human resource management and development, especially in this fast-changing world. He reiterated the recommendations in the Pay Research Bureau Report 2008 whereby public officers at all levels should undergo 40 to 60 hours training annually. He also underpinned Government's intention of setting up the Civil Service College for the benefit of all public officers.

Commenting on the procurement system, Minister Gungah stated that public procurement is increasingly becoming a critical factor in the process of both national and international development. On this score, he recalled that Mauritius has been identified as one of the six pilot countries for the implementation of a sustainable public procurement project under the Sustainable Consumption and Production Plan of Action of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

For his part, the Director of the PPO, Mr P. Beeharry, said that his office has targeted to train some 600 procurement officers in the public sector for the proper application of the new PPO legislation. According to him, the new PPO legislation will be put in place by the end of this year following the reviews carried out by COMESA and the World Bank to bring reforms to the existing procurement system. The new legislation will bring increased accountability and efficiency in the procurement functions while facilitating the introduction of innovative practices like framework agreement, electronic reverse auction and e-procurement, he added.

It will be recalled that so far some 300 Procurement Officers have been trained and 85 Officers are presently following the programme. In 2010, some 3 000 public officers across the civil service were provided with training facilities and about 800 officers were granted scholarships for longer courses.