Mauritius Offshore Sector
The Mauritian Offshore sector
Two Nobel Prize winners namely Mr. James Edward Meade CB, FBA winner of the 1977 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, winner of the 2001 the Nobel Prize for Literature but one verdict:
“Mauritius post-independence in 1968 had little hope and awaited a bleak future.”
History or rather Mauritius, proved the dire prognostications famously wrong. Indeed, we had it on the highest possible authority which stated that Mauritius was a strong candidate for failure because of being a very typical African economy – * monocrop; * prone to terms of trade shocks; * witnessing rapid growth rate in population; and * susceptible to ethnic tensions. .
But what the two Nobel Prize winners failed to notice is that Mauritius being well located in the Indian Ocean was destined to succeed.
Mauritius has a bright future not only because of the offshore sector, but it will not be wrong to say that this sector is contributing towards its success. It has been nearly two decades since Mauritius initiated a comprehensive offshore legislation. Over the years skepticism has thawed away as a number of positive developments began to unfold.
A brief history
It was in 1992 that the Government promulgated the first legislation dedicated to this sector. As a result, the Mauritius Offshore Business Activities Authority (MOBAA) was set up to act as the regulatory and licensing body for all non-banking offshore business activities. The fiscal regime provided attractive features to the investment community through the network of double taxation agreements and local incentives. As from 1 July 1998, offshore companies were liable to a uniform tax rate of 15% as provided for under the Income Tax Act 1995. The fiscal regime aimed at facilitating the extension of the treaty network as well as creating a level playing field for the offshore and onshore sectors, thus integrating the
Two Nobel Prize winners namely Mr. James Edward Meade CB, FBA winner of the 1977 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, winner of the 2001 the Nobel Prize for Literature but one verdict:
“Mauritius post-independence in 1968 had little hope and awaited a bleak future.”
History or rather Mauritius, proved the dire prognostications famously wrong. Indeed, we had it on the highest possible authority which stated that Mauritius was a strong candidate for failure because of being a very typical African economy – * monocrop; * prone to terms of trade shocks; * witnessing rapid growth rate in population; and * susceptible to ethnic tensions. .
But what the two Nobel Prize winners failed to notice is that Mauritius being well located in the Indian Ocean was destined to succeed.
Mauritius has a bright future not only because of the offshore sector, but it will not be wrong to say that this sector is contributing towards its success. It has been nearly two decades since Mauritius initiated a comprehensive offshore legislation. Over the years skepticism has thawed away as a number of positive developments began to unfold.
A brief history
It was in 1992 that the Government promulgated the first legislation dedicated to this sector. As a result, the Mauritius Offshore Business Activities Authority (MOBAA) was set up to act as the regulatory and licensing body for all non-banking offshore business activities. The fiscal regime provided attractive features to the investment community through the network of double taxation agreements and local incentives. As from 1 July 1998, offshore companies were liable to a uniform tax rate of 15% as provided for under the Income Tax Act 1995. The fiscal regime aimed at facilitating the extension of the treaty network as well as creating a level playing field for the offshore and onshore sectors, thus integrating the