Mauritius Revenue Authority E-Newsletter. Vol 15 March 2009..Services Redefined...Changing the mindset...Partners in progress...

Kenya: Benchmarking Study Tour

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On the 16th of March 2009, MRA welcomed three officials from the Kenya Investment Agency (KenInvest) in view of acquiring an in-depth insight of the case of doing business in Mauritius. It must be pointed out that Mauritius is ranked 24th on 181 countries in the Doing Business Survey 2009.

Kenivest is a government agency charged with the promotion of both local and foreign investments. Some officials of this agency have embarked on a “Benchmarking Study Tour” among best performing Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) with a view to learn from the best practices in investment promotion and generation, research and policy advocacy, investor servicing and the operations of a one-stop shop for businesses.

DTAA - Mauritius / Germany

 A German delegation headed by Mr Wolfgang Lasars was in Mauritius from 18 March to 24 March 2009 to renegotiate the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between Mauritius and Germany. The first round of negotiation concerning the DTAA was held at MRA. Representatives from the SLO and Ministry of Finance and Economic Empowerment were present and the negotiation was headed by Mr M. Mosafeer, Director Large Taxpayer Department and acting Director General. The objective of the DTAA is to reduce the fiscal imposition by establishing procedures and harmonizing revenue taxes in either country.

 

PSDP - Understanding the reforms made in Mauritius

A Zambian Team comprising of 8 officers visited the Mauritius Revenue Authority on the 3rd March 2009 in view of understanding the reform programme initiated by Mauritius in different sectors, namely Income Tax. The delegation comprised of representatives of the following institutions:
Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP)
Patents & Company Registration Department
Ministère du Commerce et de L’industrie
Ministère du Travail et de la Securité Sociale
Le Citizens Economic Empowerment Programme
 
The Team Leader  of the delegation, Mrs Kayula Siame stated that she was impressed by the ranking of Mauritius in the « Ease of doing business 2009 survey » and said she was eager to learn how the country was able to top the rank in African countries. The Director General of the MRA. Mr Sudhamo Lal made a presentation on the realizations of the MRA since its creation.
 

Capital flight - Sharing of information

A delegation from Norway visited MRA on the 26th March 2009. Their mandate was to examine and get information on the part played by secrecy jurisdictions in capital flight from developing countries. They also provided advice Norway's future development policy and initiatives regarding secrecy jurisdictions as well as discussing on international financial centres, global business, aml, etc.

 

China Development Bank briefed on tax issues.

A delegation of two Chinese officials from the China Development Bank (CDB) were convened, upon their request, to a presentation by Directors of the MRA on taxation in relation to international bank remittances as well as other issues relating to a bank’s liabilities towards the MRA. They were accompanied by a Senior Investment Advisor of the Board of Investment of Mauritius.  The delegates from the CDB also received information on the existing DTAA between Mauritius and the People’s Republic of China.