Mauritius

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Mauritius is an island country strategically located between India, Africa and Asia. Mauritius has been an independent member of the Commonwealth since 1968 and became a republic in 1992. The mostly volcanic land area of 2,040 sq km lies east of Madagascar and has a population of approximately 1.2m (2014), concentrated mostly in the capital, Port Louis. The official language is English; the dominant ethnic group is Indo-Mauritian and the most popular religion Hinduism. The Government is presidential, with a single elected National Assembly and a Council of Ministers headed by a Prime Minister. The legal system reflects mixed French and British ancestry, and administration can be bureaucratic in the French style. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy, providing significant support in terms of generating employment, strengthening infrastructural standards and fostering bilateral ties.

Apart from encouraging tourism, the Government, in the recent past, has tried hard to create a manufacturing sector with a range of investment incentives, including free trade zones and a freeport. With a stable political and socio-economic environment, Mauritius serves as a competitive offshore investment destination, allowing businesses to thrive within a well-regulated and business-friendly environment. More recently, a financial services sector has developed exponentially, including a stock exchange, to take advantage of Mauritius' location offshore India and Africa. The finance sector is a major pillar of the economy, contributing nearly 10.3% to the island economy’s Gross Domestic Product in 2014. Although the island is small in size, the country’s well-developed sophisticated banking sector boasts around 23 banks, including reputed foreign banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Deutsche Bank. The Government is enthusiastic about e-commerce. To further strengthen the financial and commercial sector, the Mauritian government is investing in information technology operations and broadband penetration, thus enhancing operational efficiency and security regulations as well as offering better connectivity.