Business Mauritius



Doing Business: Mauritius ranked 13th in the World in the Ease of Doing Business Report 2020Mauritius ranked 13th in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2020The latest edition of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Report, released on 24th October 2019, ranks Mauritius 13th out of 190 countries and at the same time assigning a record ranking to the country. This is the best performance ever obtained by Mauritius since its inclusion in the Doing Business report 2006.? Last year, Mauritius was ranked 20th globally, progressing from the 25th position in 2017, and 49th in 2016.The Doing Business Report measures the lifecycle of a business from opening a business, to getting a location, accessing finance, dealing with day to day operations and operating in a secure business environment through 10 indicators and the World Bank recognised improvements in 7 of these indicators for Mauritius.? It should also be noted that Mauritius is in the league of the top ten countries in the ‘Paying Taxes’ and ‘Dealing with Construction Permits’ indicators.The country’s ease of doing business score increased to 81.5, thereby narrowing the gap with the benchmark which is New Zealand (86.8).? The report published on 24 October 2019 also confirms the position of Mauritius in Sub-Saharan Africa followed by Rwanda (38) and Kenya (56). The country also ranks 2nd among Middle-Income economies, behind Malaysia which also score 81.5 points, like Mauritius.Mauritius moved up by 36 notches in the Ease of Doing Business survey since 2017, which is a testimony of the efforts and commitment of Government to modernise the economy through structural reforms.?? Reforms included the automation of public services, reviewing of licensing procedures and regulatory amendments through the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2017 and the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2019 in line with international best practices.Key Reforms undertaken by Mauritius for the 2020 cycleBelow are some of the key areas of reforms undertaken by Mauritius and recognized by the World Bank’s doing business team:Dealing with Construction Permits: Mauritius ranked 8th out of 190 countriesMauritius improved to the 8th position in the ‘Dealing with Construction Permits’ indicator as compared to 15th last year.?? The introduction and implementation of the National Electronic Licensing System (NELS) across the 12 Local Authorities to ease application for a Building and Land Use Permit (BLUP) was a major reform recognised by the World Bank in the Doing Business Report 2020.? The NELS brought a significant change in the way an application for a BLUP is made and processed. ?Processes were streamlined, rationalised and duplications removed through a Business Process Reengineering Exercise with added transparency.? Application, processing, payment and issue of the permit within 14 working days are made on NELS 24/7 and on any device. Also, both the legal framework and NELS made it possible for the utilities (Central Water Authority, Central Electricity Board and WasteWater Management Authority) to give their respective plan approvals on the system itself.? Applicants for a BLUP no longer need to visit individually the different utilities to obtain plan approvals resulting in a reduction in time and cost. On another note, the Occupation Certificate was also onboarded on NELS across all 12 Local Authorities and the Doing Business Team noted that application for a new sewage connection was made easier due to the introduction of the new WMA platform.As a matter of fact, further reforms have been implemented such that costs associated to plan approvals from the CWA, CEB and WMA have been waived and same is already in force.Paying Taxes: Mauritius sets a new record and is ranked 5th in the indicatorThe Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) has been implementing reforms to decrease the time required to comply with a VAT return, Corporate Tax returns and NPF/NSF payments.?? The MRA has improved its system such that collecting information, computing tax payable and filling the online forms were made simpler.? Calculations are done automatically on the system and no need for separate tax accounting books.? Grouping of invoices when filing the VAT return is now done by the MRA.The MRA has made online payment of taxes mandatory to all companies including non- resident sociétés and trusts. The MRA has also introduced a mobile app MRAeasy for payment of social contributions.? Register a business/ Incorporate a company online in less than 2hrs Mauritius is ranked 20th in the Starting a Business indicator.? The Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD) has revamped its business incorporation and registration platform to expedite the process with a more user-friendly interface. Once payment is effected online, the e-certificate of incorporation and the electronic business registration card are issued.? Moreover, the country is quoted by the World Bank in the Doing Business 2020 report as the Economy establishing best regulatory performance as no minimum capital is required to start a business.It is also to be noted that, as from January 2020 and following measure announced in the national budget 2019/2020, payment of trade fees is being transferred to the CBRD. The exemption of trade fees up to MUR 5,000 has also been extended for a further period of 3 years, with a view to reducing the cost of doing business particularly for SMEs. Getting Electricity: Reduced costs and time for a new electricity connectionThe World Bank recognised that Mauritius has reduced the cost and time for a new electricity connection and Mauritius made a significant leap from the 110th position in 2017 to the 28th position with a score of 88.? The CEB introduced a 50:50 cost sharing mechanism for the extension of electricity network and has also waived processing fees for new electricity connection. The time for obtaining a new electricity connection has been reduced with the introduction of a fast track processing for projects less than 200KVA.? Statistics for the time taken by the CEB to process a new electricity connection is available on its website.Registering property: Enhancement of the Mauritius e-Registry System (MERS) and streamlining of proceduresMauritius moved from the 99th position in 2017 to the 23rd position in the Registering Property indicator.? The Registrar General Department enhanced services offered by the Mauritius e-Registry System (MERS) to facilitate online registration/ transcription of deeds and payment of the relevant fees and taxes.? The Registrar General has also introduced online search facilities for Notaries.? As such, Notaries no longer need to go to the Registrar General Department to make searches, register and/or transcribe a deed.The World Bank also reported that Mauritius improved the quality of its land administration system by publishing official service standards and court statistics on land disputes, whilst an independent complaint mechanism has also been put in place.Improving the legal framework for Resolving InsolvencyThe World Bank recognised the changes to the Insolvency Act 2009 to ensure continuation of essential goods and services to companies in both liquidation and receivership. Recent legal amendments also give priority to post-commencement credit to protect creditors in an insolvency procedure. Mauritius therefore improved to the 28th position in the Doing Business Ranking.More transparency in Enforcing ContractsThe Doing Business Report 2020 noted that the Supreme Court is publishing statistics for more transparency.? On another note, the Economic Development Board is also working with the Judiciary to propose reforms to the way commercial disputes are settled in Mauritius by looking at the cost, time and quality of the judicial process.? Continuous Improvement InitiativesImproving the doing business climate is a continuous endeavour and the Economic Development Board (EDB) is working with the relevant authorities to implementing a number of projects, some of which are as below:Firstly, additional licences will onboard the NELS which shall be the single point of entry?for application of all business-related permits.? A Regulatory Impact Assessment framework is also being worked in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to look at the impact of all new business-related legislations prior to their introduction.? A regulatory Review exercise will also be conducted for an in-depth review of the doing business principle in Mauritius.? The EDB is also working with the World Bank to propose reforms in (i) the extensive use of movable collaterals for project funding, (ii) procurement policies, (iii) judiciary, and (iv) resolving insolvency proceedings.The EDB is also working with the MRA and other relevant Government agencies on trade facilitation measures. This year, several legislations have been amended to ease the processing of import and export permits, and a Coordinated Border Management approach is being implemented by Customs. ................
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