Mauritius Keen To Become E-commerce Hub

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

13 June 2001

In a marathon three hour and eighteen minute speech, Paul Berenger, Mauritius' finance minister laid out his budget for the year 2001/02. In it, the minister made repeated reference to the need for Mauritius to become internationally competitive, and stated his desire to see the country become a 'cyber island'.

M. Berenger also stressed the inherant vulnerability of the Mauritian economy (in common with many other small, developing nations) to external shocks, and announced plans to host a meeting of small states early next year. The minister promised massive investment in education, training, and information and communications technolgy, and stated that the process of modernisation would be accelerated in the areas of telecommunications and transport in order to increase the country's chances of international success. 'What we want to put in place is a highly competitive economic structure that combines the best features of the old and the new economy,' M. Berenger explained.

Responding to the international growth of e-commerce, the finance minister promised new legislation relating to the regulatory functions of the Mauritius Telecommunications authority, as well as to data privacy and protection, electronic consumer protection and cyber crime.

Tax breaks on offer included a proposal to grant Human Resource Development Certificate holders a five year income tax holiday and exempt them from land conversion tax, registration duty, and duty on training materials, in order to encourage the private sector to become more involved with the government's training initiatives. M. Berenger also announced that the government would be setting up a dedicated department for Mauritian tax payers with an annual turnover or gross income of more than R200 million.

The minister addressed investment in the country (relatively) fleetingly in his speech, stating that: 'There is need to rationalise the numerous fiscal incentive regimes currently in place. Many of these work at cross purposes, result in inefficiencies, and often send confusing messages to potential investors. Government is undertaking...a thorough review of all investment incentives.' The three acts passed recently with regard to the business and financial services sector would be proclaimed shortly, he assured the assembled deputies.

Finally, he urged companies based in Mauritius to adopt a modern business culture in accordance with best international practices, and announced that the government would be setting up a corporate governance unit to work on a new framework for the conduct of corporate business, addressing issues such as integrity, transparency and accountability.

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