Established in 1961, ASML GROUP got started in international commerce with the importation ofthe goods and merchandise needed to supply the young markets of Mauritania, which had justbecome politically independent but was still completely dependent economically on foreignimports. Assisting the economic and social development of the country, ASML Group is now a major industrial group that is active in various sectors of the national economy.These strategic choices illustrate the determination of ASML GROUP to develop in a sustainable manner via its subsidiaries and also reflect its determination to make an active and significant contribution to modernising the national economy and to the economic and social development of Mauritania.