Why Mauritius ?
What are the facilities offered ?
An attractive ICT Incentive Regime exists for this sector. The package of incentives offered under the ICT Scheme include:
Tax holiday up to 2008 and a 15% corporate tax thereafter. For call centres or back office operations, the company can opt for a
uniform corporate tax of 5
Duty-free import of equipment
Accelerated depreciation allowances for ICT equipment in the form of investment allowance of 50%
plus annual allowance of the total investment over 3 years (i.e 33 1/3 annually)
50% relief on personal income tax for a specified number of foreign IT specialists per company
Duty-free import of personal belongings of expatriates excluding vehicles
Fast track processing of visa, work and residence permits for expatriates
Electricity tariffs at industrial rates instead of commercial rates
Duty free import of two cars (maximum duty remission of Rs 500,000 per car) provided that the initial
investment exceeds Rs. 50M or the project creates at least 200 jobs for Mauritian workers.
( 1 USD = Rs 30 )
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What opportunities exist ?
Investment opportunities exist in various areas such as:
Software Development
Multimedia Activities
IT-Enabled Services (ITES)
Education & Training
ICT Habitats
Call Centres
Business Process Outsourcing
Disaster Recovery Centres(DRC)
Data warehousing and hosting
E-commerce
What procedure to follow ?
The first step is to apply for an ICT Investment Certificate by submitting a project proposal to the BOI. Upon approval of the project, a letter of intent is issued by BOI.
The Investment Certificate is then delivered when the conditions stated in the letter of intent are fulfilled. The BOI provides a One-Stop-Shop service to facilitate the obtention of relevent permits and clearances.
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Submission of Project
Project Appraisal & Approval
Issue of Letter of Intent
Issue of Investment Certificate
Project declared Framework -Reducing the lead-time for the approval of projects.
In view of reducing the lead-time for the approval of projects, a declared project system has been introduced. This proposed framework for declared projects has been announced in the 2004/2005 Budget Speech delivered by the Hon Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development (section 84 and 85). With this proposed system, Investment Certificates will be issued within 24 hours.
This system has initially been applied to exclusively export-oriented activities related to the following:
- ICT Scheme, for 100 % export-oriented projects
- Export Enterprise Certificate, for export-oriented activities
- Export Service Certificate
Cases where applications for ICT Certificate, Export Enterprise Certificate and Export Service Certificate will NOT be considered under the declared system include:
- Projects involving request for state land
- Projects not conform to the established policies and guidelines
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In cases where projects are not considered under the declared system, they will be channeled via the existing approval mechanism, i.e. internal appraisal, technical committee and Board.
For a project to be considered under this new framework, it will have to comply with the respective guidelines established for each Investment Certificate.
What is the role of the Telecommunication Sector ?
Mauritius is well set to be on the Information highway which places a high premium on the provision of a state-of-the-art public telecommunications services such as Fixed, Mobile, International Long distance, Internet and other value added services. These services are essential for the development of international trade, international business, financial and other services and impacts on every aspect of economic activity.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications is responsible for Telecommunications policy and administering programs to improve telecommunications services, particularly to ensure ubiquitous access to affordable info-communication services in Mauritius.
The Information and Communications Technologies Authority (ICTA) is the regulator for telecommunications sector. The key role of the regulator is to implement and promote the Government's national policy objectives for the telecommunications sector.
Click here for ICTA web site. http://www.icta.mu
