The SIB, established in 2004, is a semi-autonomous executive arm of the President's Office. Besides promoting the Seychelles as an investment and business centre, the SIB's other functions include:

• acting as the central agency of the Government dealing with matters relating to business and investment in Seychelles;
• facilitating investment projects and business activities;
• coordinating investment promotion policies, planning and marketing strategies to attract investments;
• facilitating and coordinating incentive schemes established by law to encourage investments;
• and advising the Government on investment policies and elimination of administrative and other barriers to the flow of investments.

In July, the Investment Bureau celebrated its first year of existence. During that period, the institution has approved more than 100 development projects valued at around R1 billion (US$192,600).

There are three major categories of investments: (i) tourism; (ii) residential and commercial projects, (iii) industrial projects. The tourism projects total some R800 million and these represent foreign direct investment (FDI), projects by Seychellois-foreign partnerships, or projects by Seychellois alone. In the other sectors of investment, the majority of promoters are Seychellois.

The website can be found at www.sib.sc.