Tender Offers: STC Aims to Attract More Competitors to Lower Prices

Title: Tender Offers: STC Aims to Attract More Competitors to Lower Prices

The State Trading Corporation (STC) is focusing on stimulating competition and diversifying the range of imported products in Mauritius. To this end, a delegation from the parastatal body recently participated in Gulfood 2026, the international food exhibition held from January 26 to 30 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, to identify new suppliers and understand the barriers faced by foreign players preventing them from entering the Mauritian market.

"The STC team, which I was part of, went to Gulfood to examine the market for different products and meet several foreign players. We were able to see what blocks them in Mauritius or why they do not wish to enter our market," explained Takesh Luckho, president of the STC. He specified that certain so-called "fast-moving" products, which can have highly fluctuating prices within a few days, pose difficulties due to the time needed for tender processes and analysis before allocation by the STC.

"Sometimes we take ten days or even several weeks to process tenders, while for some products, prices fluctuate rapidly. This means that some potential suppliers do not participate, because between the day of a bid submission for a given price and the day of contract allocation, the price of the product would have changed significantly," he added.

Among the targeted segments are rice and flour. According to Takesh Luckho, "several suppliers are very interested in coming back to the Mauritian market but have raised concerns about administrative issues and hassles related to the tender process."

To address these constraints, the STC is considering reducing "red tape" to attract more participants to tenders and thus stimulate competition. "We will try to encourage more operators to participate because we sometimes notice that it’s the same suppliers bidding. The more participants we have, the more competitive the prices become," emphasized the STC president.

He also reminded that the STC is not a private company and that all procedures must remain transparent. "We need to put in place all facilities to encourage participation in tenders and eliminate obstacles," he indicated. "We understand some problems suppliers face when bidding internationally. The team is identifying these difficulties to remove barriers and obtain more participants, especially for rice and flour. Sometimes, for flour for instance, we only have one participant," he clarified.

A faster evaluation system would thus make the process more efficient and better suited to market fluctuations without compromising good governance requirements.

Strengthening Competition for New Products

Expanding the product portfolio is also a priority. "We have explored new products, whether they are included in the subsidy list or products such as canned tuna, sardines, and canned tomatoes. The idea is to introduce new references in the local market and stimulate competition," explained Takesh Luckho.

The STC, with its Smatch brand, is present in the market for milk, oil, and dry grains, among others, and contributes to competition in this sector.