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Mauritius is set to sign the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

This DTAA, in line with the OECD and UN Model Agreements on Avoidance of Double Taxation, further complies with the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) recommendations and comes as an opportunity to not only clarify the taxing rights of each country on income covered by the DTAA but also aims to:

• provide certainty to investors in their dealings with Mauritius or Hong Kong, as the case may be;
• create a conducive environment for greater cross-border investment flows between the two countries;
• establish a framework for exchange of information between the tax authorities of Mauritius and Hong Kong, with a view to combatting tax evasion and other tax malpractices; and
• provide a mechanism to taxpayers for the resolution of tax disputes

We will endeavour to provide you with more information on the signing of the DTAA with Hong Kong in due course. Stay tuned!

On 3 June 2022, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) announced its decision to raise the Key Repo Rate (KRR) by 25 basis points to 2.25% per annum. We recall the increase of the KRR by 15 basis points to 2.00% per annum earlier this year, in March 2022.

The reopening of the Mauritian borders combined with the adoption of appropriate policy actions have maintained Mauritius on a steady path to recovery, and the BoM is forecasting real GDP growth between 7 – 8% for 2022 depending, among others, on the number of tourist arrivals.

On the other hand, the war between Russia and Ukraine has sent a wave of inflation across the world, and Mauritius was not spared from the consequences with rising fuel and commodity prices. This has led the BoM to further revise its inflation projection to around 6.7% for 2022.

Faced with increased risk of inflation, and with a view of implementing the appropriate macroeconomic conditions for recovery, the MPC has deemed raising the KRR to 2.25% per annum appropriate for our economy. It continues to monitor the situation closely.

Access the full communique from the BoM here

On 16 February 2022, the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) released a communique to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region.

At the core, this MoU has the purpose of facilitating exchange of information and sharing of expertise with regard to banking and financial services between the two entities, but it also generates opportunities for:

1. establishing a framework that encompasses the organisation of meetings, consultations, seminars, workshops, internships as well as study visits and experts’ visits in areas of common interest with regard to capacity-building in the financial services industry.
2. strengthening collaboration in the field of research pertaining to financial services, banking, cybersecurity and FinTech, among others.

For more information, access the full communique from the BOM here

In the same vein, the BoM announced the signing of a MoU with the Banque Centrale des Comores to strengthen the existing bilateral cooperation between the two institutions as well as improve exchange of information on cross border supervision, on-site inspections of cross border establishments, capacity building, and collaboration in key areas of mutual interest.

Read the full communique published on 19 February 2022 here

Mauritius presents various opportunities, in the form of Occupation Permits (OPs) and Young Professional Occupation Permits (YPOPs), for foreigners looking to work and live on the island. In an effort to make the procedures regarding applications made for OPs and YPOPs more efficient, the following measures have recently been adopted:

(a) With regard to OP:

1. henceforth, OPs which were so far only granted to applicants arriving in Mauritius on Business visa would also be extended to foreigners on tourist visa;

2. applications for OP from students would only be considered after completion of their studies. However, employment should be related to their field of studies.

(b) With regard to YPOP, a holder of this category of permit would be allowed to:

1. switch to the OP category with another company, only after termination of his current contract of employment and not during his running contract;

2. switch to the OP category within the same company during the validity of his contract of employment.

Why make the switch from YPOP to OP?

Young professionals can benefit from greater advantages when applying for an OP:

– While the YPOP provides a residency validity of three years, certain categories of OPs allow foreigners to remain on the island for a period of up to 10 years or for the duration of their contract of employment.
– OP holders further have the possibility to work across broader fields unlike YPOP holders who are restricted to working in companies having business activities as follows: Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Fintech, Robotics, Financial Services, Information Technology.

Should you wish to receive more information about the Premium Visa and the various types of Occupation and Residence Permits that are available to foreign nationals, please write to our Relocation Team at relocation@intercontinentaltrust.com

In the meantime, you can consult our newsletter, ‘Mauritius: a more accessible Work & Live destination’ here for a detailed guide on the above.

On 15 June 2022, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) came out with the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2022. Titled ‘Measuring peace in a complex world’, this 16^th edition unveils that the world is considerably less peaceful now than it was in 2008; indeed, the GPI records a deterioration in the average level of global peacefulness by 0.3% in 2021.

Despite a slight fall in peacefulness in the Sub-Saharan region, Mauritius has once again taken the top spot in the Sub-Saharan region (Global Ranking: 28^th). With a GPI score of 1.57, the country shows slight improvement, owing to a notable upswing in its Militarisation domain and UN peacekeeping funding.

The GPI 2022 ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness across three domains:

• the level of societal Safety and Security;
• the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and
• the degree of Militarisation.

To access the full report, click here

The latest World Happiness Report (the “Report”), released on 18 March 2022, marks the tenth anniversary of this series, and has, this year, directed its focus on the far-ranging effects of COVID-19. At the core, the Report aims to extract meaningful subjective data on happiness levels across the World and transform it into an objective analysis which can help guide individuals and societies towards better lives.

With an improved score of 6.071 (2021: 6.049), Mauritius takes the 52^nd spot on the World Ranking, and has subsequently retained its position as the happiest country in Africa.

The analysis which demonstrates how the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 has led to a 2021 pandemic of benevolence with equally global spread – takes into account the following variables:

• GDP per capita;
• social support;
• health life expectancy;
• freedom to make life choices;
• generosity and
• perceptions of corruption

The full Report can be accessed here

The Democracy Index (the “Index”), published annually by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), is a report that provides a broad overview of the state of democracy across 167 countries and territories. Bound in its drive to bring forth deep insight into World economic and political developments, this year’s index, released on 10 February 2022, shows declining resilience across most regions, and sets the record for the worst global score since the index was first produced in 2006 (2021: 5.28).

This global score is reflective of the adverse effects of the ongoing pandemic, where civil liberties across democracies and authoritarian regimes alike are being continuously threatened. Indeed, the imposition of lockdowns and travel restrictions, as well as increasingly common obligation to show proof of vaccination to participate in public life have led to a subtle shift in power in favour of states across the World.

Despite the less than favourable findings, Mauritius has fared well in the Index with an improved ranking at the 19^th spot (2020: 20^th) and a score of 8.08. The country thus maintains its position as the only Full Democracy on the African continent.

The Index takes into consideration five essential criteria to analyse the democracy level across the countries and territories – electoral process and pluralism, functioning of the government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties – and we note that Mauritius has done particularly well for the electoral process section, where it scored 9.17 out of 10.

Read the full report titled ‘The China challenge’ from the EIU here where the research division dedicates a section of the report to China’s exceptional economic success and its take on democracy.

For a decade now, France-based website Retraite sans Frontières has been publishing its ranking for the best overseas retirement destinations through an analysis of twelve criteria such as cost of living, value of real estate, medical care, cultural heritage and gastronomy, amongst others.

Mauritius was found to be the sixth most coveted country for French retirees, owing to its economic and political stability as well as the French-speaking advantage of its inhabitants.

While the ranking itself does not seem to come as a surprise, Paul Delahoutre, founder of Retraite sans Frontières, notes that since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, French retirees have favoured European countries – clearly denoted in the Top 3 ranking (Greece, Portugal and Spain). He attributes the above to the ease of travel between within Europe and the high healthcare standards of these countries.

Access more information on the Top 10 ranking here

The 2022 Global Residence Program Index depicts the top 25 most reputable residence by investment programs around the World, and Mauritius, as the only African country in the list, has shown the remarkable strength of its Residence by Investment Program by ranking 14^th globally (score: 56).

The country attributes this achievement to the prospective schemes in place that allow foreign nationals who invest into one of four main real estate projects – Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS), Real Estate Scheme (RES), Property Development Scheme (PDS) or Smart City Scheme (SCS) – full residence rights including the right to live, work, and retire in Mauritius within two to six months. The local Residence Program further has the ability to be extended to the dependents of the applicants, and a reasonable timeframe for the application process has played in our favour.

For more information on the residence requirements, you can access the full ranking from Henley & Partners here

In parallel, Henley & Partners has also come out with its Best Investment Migration Real Estate Index 2022, the first of its kind that aims to act as a comprehensive tool assessing real estate-linked investment migration options – through an assessment of 12 key criteria – vis-à-vis international real-estate investors who are looking to acquire alternative residences and citizenships.

Totalling a score of 66.4, Mauritius lands a place among the top 16 countries that were considered for this index (14^th). With a minimum real estate acquisition of USD 375,000, the country ranks high in the ‘Investment Amount’ category, alongside Residence Requirements, Property Costs and Rental Income.

Access the full ranking here for more information.

Should you have any query on Mauritius’ Residence by Investment Program or wish to know more on how we can assist you to relocate to the country, please send us an email on relocation@intercontinentaltrust.com