New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): Mauritius Minister of Financial Services and Economic Development Jyoti Jeetun asserted on Wednesday that the island nation has “never been a tax haven” but a low-tax jurisdiction, stressing that robust systems are in place to prevent abuse.
Jeetun acknowledged that, like many other countries, cases of tax-related misuse had occurred in the past but emphasized that recent cases have not been detected. “Mauritius was never a tax haven. We are a low-tax jurisdiction. There have been cases, as have been in many other countries. Even in London, you occasionally encounter cases like that. What we need to do is ensure that our institutions are functioning effectively, so that if there is an abuse, we can detect it. We are constantly working on this, and we haven’t seen any recent cases of abuse,” she said.
Mauritius was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in 2020 due to money laundering concerns but was removed in 2023 after compliance improvements. Jeetun highlighted that 12 agencies are actively involved in supervision and regulation to ensure transparency. “There is a lot of perception about this, but the reality is that we have very robust systems and procedures in place. We found ourselves on the EU-Grey list a few years ago. We came out of it. We are largely compliant with all 40 FATF requirements. We have a mutual evaluation coming up in 2027, and we are working closely with all our enforcement agencies on a daily basis to ensure that we never return to the grey list,” she said.
On foreign relations, Jeetun underlined that Mauritius maintains balanced ties with both India and China. “For us, based on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, we have on the east, China, and we have India. We have a good relationship with both countries. We have people from China living in Mauritius, as well as people from India. The vast majority of people of Mauritius come from India. Our view is that we will work with all these giants on our doorsteps in collaboration, and we will not compare one to the other. We’re working with all these countries as partners,” she said.
India shares close and longstanding ties with Mauritius, largely due to strong cultural and historical connections. Nearly 70 percent of Mauritius’s 1.2 million population is of Indian origin, alongside 28 percent Creole, 3 percent Sino-Mauritian, and 1 percent Franco-Mauritian.
Earlier this year, Indian High Commissioner to Mauritius Anurag Srivastava officially handed over the first batch of ten electric buses to Prime Minister Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, strengthening the “green partnership” between the two countries. (ANI)
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