oecd investment policy review of mauritius
DESCRIPTION
This presentation describes the key findings from the OECD investment policy review of Mauritius and how the Mauritius government is implementing the policy reforms suggested in the review. Nirmala Jeetah of the Mauritius Board of Investment presented and discussed the Mauritian experience of using the Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) to assess its investment climate with SADC member states in Pretoria on 4 July 2014 at the 2nd meeting of the Task Force on updating the PFI. Find out more about the investment policy review of Mauritius and the Policy Framework for Investment at http://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/investment-policy/mauritius-investment-policy.htm and http://www.oecd.org/investment/pfi.htmTRANSCRIPT
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