Saturday, July 9 2005 15:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port Louis: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has congratulated the newly elected Prime Minister of Mauritius Navin Chandra Ramgoolam on his electoral victory and has invited him to India.

Before leaving New Delhi for the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Singh had a telephonic conversation with Ramgoolam, who said he looked forward to greater co-operation with India, especially in the emerging technologies sector for job and wealth creation.

Ramgoolam also thanked Singh for India's US $100 million loan by which Mauritius had set up a Cyber City five years ago.

Ramgoolam's Social Alliance had emerged victorious in the July 3(Sunday) parliamentary elections in the island nation.

He, along with his 19-member cabinet were sworn in Thursday (July 7, 2005) in capital Port Louis.

In the first meeting of the new cabinet, it was decided that Mauritius would plead with the European Union for no-reduction in the proposed 39 per cent cut in the price of sugar supplied to the region.

Ramgoolam, who will address the first session of Parliament on Tuesday (July 5), said he would go out on an economic diplomacy initiative to help re-steer the country's economy.