Geography and Climate

Mauritius, an idyllic small island covering 1,865 square kilometers is suitated some 2,000 kilometres off the couth east coast of Africa. More than 150 kilometres of white sandy beaches and transparent lagoon are protected from the open sea by the world’s third largest coral reef which almost surrounds the island.

History

Mauritius marks a crossroad of global trade. Colonised by the Dutch, French and English in turn, with a history heavily influenced by India, Africa and China, Mauritius has a multi cultural and cosmopolitan population of about 1.2 million inhabitants.

Government & Political System

Mauritius is a presidential democracy modeled on the British parliamentary system, which guarantees the separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. Democracy is well entrenched in Mauritius and all major political parties are represented in Parliament.

Legal System

The Republic of Mauritius, member of the Commonwealth, has a hybrid legal system combining both civil and common law practices. While private law is largely based on the Napoleonic Code, public and administrative laws draw essentially from English Common law.

Economic Overview

The economy has remained strong and is now characterized by a thriving export led manufacturing sector, a sophisticated sugar producing agricultural sector, an upmarket tourism sector, a modern freeport and a fast expanding international financial services sector. The Mauritian Government is investing massively in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector, with the setting up of state-of-the-art technology Park that will transform the country into an ideal destination fro BPO, BCP and IT enabled services.

Factsheet

Capital Port Louis Land Area 1,865 km2 Population Workforce 541,000 Literacy rate 90% Currency Mauritian Rupee (Rs) Exchange rate: US$1 = Rs 28.00 GDP per capita (2003) US$ 4,500 GDP growth rate (2003) 4.8% Inflation rate About 5% Government Westminster Model

Our Strong Points

	Political and Social Stability
	Strong governmental support to the Financial Services Sector
	State of the art communication facilities
	Preferential access to regional markets
	Highly literate and adaptable labour force
	Pool of qualified professionals
	Growing network of double taxation avoidance treaties with 29 countries
	Expanding freeport and offshore business activities
	International stock exchange
	No exchange control
	Convenient time zone (+ GMT 4)
	Frequent air and sea links
	Attractive fiscal policies
	Not on the OECD and FATF black list
	Availability of modern and reliable infrastructure
	Pleasant and peaceful living conditions

In addition to the above, the availability of high bandwidth connectivity following the recent implementation of the South Africa Far East (SAFE) submarine optical fibre communication cable has placed Mauritius firmly on the international communication platform.