104
Fostering Technology Absorption in Southern African Enterprises
Figure 2.3 Preferred Method of Technology Acquisition, Mauritius 60 50
46
50
percent
40 30 20 12
14
11
11
11
10
6
6
6
gh lic fore en ig sin n g
rs d
th r
ou
w ith
su
pp
lie
d by ke hir y s in ta g ff
ne ta i
domestic
ob
de
ta
ve
in
lo
ed
pe
ob
lo ve de
em
bo
pe
d
in
ho
us
di e m d in ac n hi ew ne ry
e
0
foreign
Source: Enterprise Survey (database), 2008 data.
the garment firms bought its computer-aided design equipment from Germany. The seafood processor bought its new machinery and equipment from Germany and Japan. All the firms that bought new equipment received training from the equipment suppliers. Another highly prevalent trait is the purchase of secondhand equipment by smaller firms, caused by the lack of financial resources to buy new equipment. All the firms interviewed conduct in-house training and use the Industrial and Vocational Training Board for basic training of their employees. They all contributed to the training levy and were satisfied with the reimbursement of this levy upon proof of training provided. Hiring skilled personnel from abroad. Moving into more quality demanding high-value-added products and investing in new technology require firms to possess skilled personnel. Most critical high-level skills, including dye masters, designers, market specialists, and the like in the textile and garment firms, were imported from India. At the lower end, these firms face the difficulty of securing motivated local labor, particularly to undertake shift work to ensure that production is 24/7 (in the case of the big textile and garment firm). A significant proportion (35–40 percent) of the labor force in the large textile and garment firm is acquired outside Mauritius,