Secretary-General Dr. Santhi Kanoktanaporn visited the Republic of Mauritius from 16 to 18 February 2017 during the Industrial Human Resources Development for Africa: Training Course on Development of Advanced Productivity Practitioners organized by the APO 6–17 February. The course was funded by a cash grant from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the first day of his visit, the Secretary-General paid a courtesy call on Minister of Financial Services, Good Governance and Institutional Reforms Dharmendar Sesungkur. They discussed the importance of relying on technology to raise national productivity and agreed that efforts to enhance productivity should emphasize people and culture, which can be regarded as preconditions for a successful productivity movement. Minister Sesungkur thanked the APO for its continuing support for productivity enhancement in Africa, particularly for organizing the training course in Mauritius.

The Secretary-General was also received by Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives Soomilduth Bholah for an hour-long meeting. The development model for Mauritius was among the topics reviewed, including how to expand the tourism industry to attract more visitors and empower people. Efforts to strengthen SMEs and the role of the APO in boosting SME growth attracted the interest of the minister, and the Secretary-General conveyed his views on the institutional foundations for functional government assistance to SMEs.

The Secretary-General attended a breakfast meeting with board members of the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) of Mauritius. The meeting highlighted the low female labor participation rate seen in Mauritius and possible solutions based on the knowledge accumulated by the APO through its projects and research on that topic. The discussion also addressed the social capital needed for enhancing productivity in the country.

The series of meetings in Mauritius was concluded by a courtesy call on Secretary for Foreign Affairs U.C. Dwarka Canabady of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade. Secretary Canabady shared her experience showing that increasing competitiveness could have negative effects on the country and people. She also believed that leadership was an important factor for global competitiveness. The Secretary-General emphasized that every country had to have several modes of survival to be productive and competitive. They explored ideas to strengthen collaboration between the APO and Mauritius through the Pan-African Productivity Association and agreed on possible arrangements to achieve that.