Mauritius woos Indian SW companies

PUNE: Information Technology is the new buzzword in Mauritius these days as the tiny island-nation is pulling out all stops to attract Indian software companies to set up shop there. Prem Nababsingh, chairman, Mauritius Board of Investment, communicated this message in his address to the members of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture in Pune.

He said that the Mauritius government was aware of its deficiencies in IT and was ready to attract Indian software companies with incentives like Zero-tax till 2008, liberal issue of business work permits and multiple visas. Nababsingh highlighted the fact that one could incorporate a company in Mauritius in just 15 minutes.

The Mauritius government was working on the Cyber Park project — a 12-storey building of 50,000 sq. feet area, being constructed by Indian firms Larsen Toubro and Shapoorji Pallonji, which would be ready by December 2003. According to him, Infosys — the Indian IT major - was the first off the block with its Mauritius business plans and had leased out 25 acres to set up its own infrastructure. He said that Infosys had planned its disaster recovery unit on the island and had even procured a blanket visa for 1,500 people from his government. Pentasoft Software, which has leased 10 acres of land and Satyam are other two Indian companies who have clear Mauritian plans, he said.