OECD Investment Policy Review

MAURITIUS

www.investmauritius.com

04 July 2014

Nirmala Jeetah

BOARD OF INVESTMENT, Mauritius

Agenda

Mauritius Economic Profile

Implementation

Feedback

Findings & Recommendations

Key Facts

Area: - 2,040 Km2  (788 miles2)

Population: - 1,295, 789 (July 2013)

Capital: - Port Louis 

Government: - Republic since 1992. - Independent state in 1968.

Official Language:- English

Key Indicators (Sept 2013)• GDP Growth(basic prices): 3.2%• Unemployment: 8.0%

Repo Rate: 4.65% (Feb 2014)Legal System: Hybrid Legal System

Exclusive Economic Zone: 1.9 million km²+ 396,000 km² joint extended 

shelf with Seychelles

Star and Key of the Indian Ocean

High Income Economy by 2020s

USD 200*

USD 1,000

USD 2,500

USD 7,700

MONOCROP

INDUSTRIAL

SERVICES

INNOVATION DRIVEN

Economic Trajectory

Source: Statistics Mauritius

2013 GDP Composition by Industry Sector

Agriculture, forestry and fishing; 3.4%

Manufacturing; 16.9% Electricity , gas, steam and air

conditioning supply ; 1.3%

Construction; 5.5%

Wholesale & retail trade; 12.4%

Transportation and storage ; 5.7%

Accommodation and food service activities ; 6.6%

Information and communication; 4.4% Financial and insurance activities, 10.3%

Real estate activities; 5.6%

Professional, scientific and technical activities

; 4.7%

Education; 4.7%

Human health and social work activities; 4.2%

Arts, entertainment and recreation; 3.0%

Other service activities; 1.9%

Export oriented enterprises; 6.2%

Sea food ; 1.6% Freeport ; 0.5%

Tourism ; 7.7% ICT ; 6.4%

Macroeconomic FundamentalsMAURITIUS

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

8.9 8.89.7

2.5 2.9

6.5

3.9 3.5

Inflation rate

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

102030405060708090

100

Real GDP growth has been stable… Inflation is falling…

Debt to GDP ratio…Investment as a % of GDP

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014*

5.53.1 4.2 3.6 3.4 3.2 3.7

MAURITIUS Macro economic fundamentals Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign Direct Investment has witnessed a general upward trend with a peak of Rs 20,373 million in 2012 while in 2013, it stood at Rs 9,512 million (to be reviewed).

MAURITIUS Benchmarking against OECD countries

Mauritius

South Africa Luxembourg

Brazil

GDP USD 10.5 billion

USD 384.3 billion

USD 60.54 billion

USD 2.25 trillion

GDP Per Capita USD 8148 USD 7460 USD 77900 USD 11 339

GDP Growth Rate

3.2% 2.5%  0.3 %  0.9 %

Inflation 3.5% 5.7% 1.54% 6.37%

FDI USD 4786 million

USD 8100 million

 USD17800 million

USD 58400 million

The Project

Hold workshop March 2012

ConsultationMar – Nov 2012

Fact Checking Workshop Nov 2012

Final Draft Report Sep 2013

Presentation to OECD Investment

Committee Dec 2013

Publication of Report

IPR Project TimelineIPR Process

April-May 2012

Data Collection

May-July 2012

Data analysis

July/August 2012

1st draft and stakeholder

review; inputs

made to 2013

Budget

October/November

2012

Presentation of results

Fact checking mission

End 2012 & early

2013

Internal revision by the OECD

Circulation to

government stakeholders for inputs

Jan. to June 2012:

Launching

Data collection & preparation of 1st draft

Circulation & presentation of draft

report to stakeholders

Iterative review & revision of draft

IPR Process

Ministries and Agencies involved

BOI, SLO,

MoFED

Investment Policy

BOI, JEC, MCCI

Investment Promotion & FacilitationCustom

s MCCI, Ministr

y of Trade

Trade

Customs MCCI, Ministr

y of Trade

Tax

Corporate Governance

Policies for promoting responsible business conduct

Human Resource Development Infrastructure

and Financial Sector Development

Com Div., NCCG,

OPSG, SE, MID, FRC

JEC, ICAC, Com Div

Ministries (Education,

Health, Labour,

Tertiary Ed, MITD, MEF) Ministries –

Public Infr. Energy, ICT, ICTA, FSC, BoM, PPP

Unit

Ministry Civil Serv. ICAC, OPSG

Public Governance

28 agencies

Findings & Recommendations

for Mauritius

Findings and Recommendations

IPR Process

Main Areas

Investment Policies

Investment Promotion and

Facilitation

Infrastructure And SOEs

Trade Policy

Findings and Recommendations – Investment Policies

IPR Process

Chal

leng

es in

inve

stm

ent p

olic

ies

Insufficiently unified investment regime

Information on Investment regulations dispersed over different documents

No proper Intellectual Property Rights framework

Complex land system

Findings and Recommendations – Investment PoliciesIPR Process

Recommendations for investment policies

•Compile all laws in a single document

•BOI: Consolidate all regulations in single document

Clarify national framework for investor protection

• Continue the implementation of the e-registry system

•BOI: Registrar General has already embarked on the implementation of a cadastral system – LAVIMS and an e-registry system

Streamline land administration system

• BOI: Draft Institutional Intellectual Property Arrangement Bill approved by Cabinet, and will set up a single regulatory authority

Enforcement Mechanism for Intellectual Property

•Expand network of IPPAs•Set up an investment-dispute avoidance mechanism

•Undertake a stocktaking analysis of existing IPPAs

•BOI: Review of IPPAs is planned for 2014; technical assistance is required; and analysis will be done together with MoFED

Expand the network of investment treaties and update their content

• BOI: Embarked in a series of promotional campaigns in the positioning of Mauritius as the leading regional arbitration center.

Give further momentum to international arbitration

Findings and Recommendations – Investment Promotion & Facilitation

IPR Process

Chal

leng

es in

in

vest

men

t pro

moti

on No national investment strategy aligned with long-term infrastructure and HR development plans

No assessment of the effectiveness of existing investment incentives

SMEs lack of awareness on investment opportunities

SME ProcurementSME website facilities

Industrial space to SMES Overseas marketing missions

SME Financing Guarantee SchemeSupporting competitiveness of SMEs

Findings and Recommendations – Investment Promotion & Facilitation

IPR Process

Recommendations for Investment Promotion

Elaborate consolidated investment strategy

document

BOI: To be undertaken with MoFED in line with

ESTP

Establish a Cost-Benefit analysis mechanism for

incentives

BOI: To be undertaken together with MoFED

Increase SME awareness of investment opportunities

BOI: To be taken up by Min. of Business, Ent. &

Cooperatives

Inclusion of SMEs in procurement contracts

Included in Budget 2014

Implementation

Actions already undertaken following the IPRMAURITIUS

• Investment Facilitation Reforms:• Investment Fast Track Committee for processing of major big-impact

investment projects• E-Monitoring system to track BLP applications (in progress)• Fast-tracking delivery of work permits for Export-Oriented Enterprises• Online incorporation of companies, company search and payment of

annual fees• Registering Property – electronic registry is live since 16 May 2014

• Policy Reforms:• Setting the land transfer tax at a single rate of 5% instead of 5-10%• Stronger marketing for tourism services (diversification of market)• Supporting access to finance and markets in the agro-industry sector• Increasing the export promotions by Enterprise Mauritius • Expanding sites for marine aquaculture

Actions already undertaken following the IPRMAURITIUS

• Infrastructure & procurement, competition & corporate governance reforms:

• New investments in infrastructure (PSIP)• Facilitating payment of electricity (mobile phone)• Increasing SME Procurements to 20% in the next 3 years;

Others Intellectual Property (Institutional Arrangement) Bill has been

approved by Cabinet. Setting up of a Mauritius Intellectual Property Office and an Intellectual Property Council.

Arbitration – LCIA-MIAC has been set up and is operational in Mauritius – position Mauritius as a regional centre for Arbitration.

Youth Employment Programme launched to enable young graduates to be employed.

Provided a good overview of the economic developmental path of Mauritius;

Document is comprehensive and can be used as a reference document

Opportunity to have all the key stakeholders and working towards a common goal – improving the attractiveness of Mauritius as an investment destination;

MAURITIUS Feedback on the IPR Process

Encourage the sharing of views between the public and private sector;

Identify the areas which would help in further improving the business climate;

Development of a Consolidated National Investment Strategy and new growth poles to better integrate the global market

Focused on key areas crucial for developing a coherent investment policy geared towards economic growth

MAURITIUS Feedback on improvement of the IPR Process

The likely impact of the proposed recommendations and benchmarking with best in class countries;

Provision of more detailed information on countries where similar systems exist to know it operates

MAURITIUS Feedback on improvement of the IPR Process

Thank You