However, the number of enterprises continued to fall from 520 in 1994 to 490 in 1995. As at March 1996, the number stood at 480. These declines occurred mainly in "other garments" of the wearing apparel group and were 24 and 11 for 1995 and 1996 respectively.

As at March 1996, EPZ companies employed 81,048 persons (a 2.5% drop with respect to 1995). As at March 1996 a net of 30 closures were witnessed as against 10 for the same period in 1995.

The value added per worker increased from Rs 26,443 in 1994 to 28,347 in 1995 (+7.2%) at 1982 constant prices, whereas exports per worker grew from Rs 201,190 to Rs 227,015 (+12.8%). There has been a continuous rise in productivity over the past years. It increased by 10 points from 1994 to reach 150 for 1995. These may be signs of more worker involvement and better systems being put in place (both management & production systems) in the EPZ enterprises.

France, followed by USA, UK, Germany and Italy continue to be the main markets for Mauritian EPZ products. In 1995, exports to France were Rs 5.2 billion (share of 28.5%). USA (share of 21%) absorbed lesser imports from Mauritius - in fact, a decline of 8% was noted - exports dropped from Rs 4.2 billion in 1994 to Rs 3.9 billion in 1995. On the other hand, exports to UK (share of 18.7%) registered a very significant jump of 34% (Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3.4 billion in 1995). Germany and Italy saw their imports of EPZ goods rise by 7.7 and 11.8% respectively in 1995.Provisional figures for the first semester of 1996 indicate substantial increases of about 20% and 16% to France and UK respectively with respect to corresponding semester in 1995.

The value of EPZ imports reached Rs 10.9 billion (+7.2% increase) in 1995. The increase for the first half of 1996 is 13.5% when compared to the same period in 1995. Major inputs for the textile/garment sector accounted for 61% of total EPZ imports. Imports of machinery and transport equipment fell to one billion rupees in 1995 from a level of Rs 1.1 billion in 1994.

Major sources of EPZ imports in order of magnitude are France (Rs 1.7 bn), Hong Kong (Rs 1.4 bn), India (Rs 1.4 bn), Germany (Rs 0.7 bn) and Taiwan (Rs 0.7 bn).

These two sectors comprise 57% of total number of EPZ enterprises employ 87% of the EPZ workforce and contributed to about 81% of exports. It is the clothing sector which has played the role of locomotive of the EPZ in the 80's. Today, it constitutes the bulk of the sector -employing 82% of the EPZ workforce, comprising 50% of the number of enterprises and exporting 76% of Mauritian EPZ products.

Cotton T-Shirts (Rs 3.4 bn), pullovers (Rs 2.8 bn), woven men's shirts (Rs 2.4 bn) and woven men's trousers (Rs 1.5 bn) constitute the main exported items. Altogether, they account for 73% of garments exports. The value increase for (i) Cotton T-Shirts was 22%, (ii) Pullovers was 2% and (iii) for woven men's trousers was 8%. A decline of about 11% was noted in the exports of woven men's shirts.

The value of export of pullovers fell (ranging from 1 - 56%) for the following countries: France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and the USA, while that to UK significantly went up by Rs 217 million (+42%) thus offsetting all lower exports to countries just mentioned.

Woven men's trousers and woven men's shirts exports towards the USA registered decreases of about 10 and 26% respectively in 1995.

As at March 1996, 206 enterprises were operational, employing 10,361 persons. Such companies constitute 43% of the total, employ 13% of the EPZ workforce and contribute to 19% of total EPZ exports in 1995. Their exports amounted to Rs 3.4 billion, which represents an increase of 16.8% over 1994. A similar increase was witnessed in 1994.

The subsectors which have been the most dynamic in 1995 are "Food and Live animals" (+20% in value), "optical goods" (+25%), "Toys, etc" (+28%) and "Jewellery" (+32%).