What is the first picture that comes to mind when you think of an island? You might be thinking about a very small patch of white sand surrounded by the ocean. If you're lucky, there might be a few palm trees to provide shade to whatever poor stranded sailors or passengers who might have found their way there in search of rescue. A few coconuts would be the highest items of value on the entire island.
Now with that picture in mind, you would think that I was crazy to ask you to invest your hard earned capital into an island. You might think me even more nuts if I told you of how popular offshore companies on islands have become. But it's true. Let's take for example the island Mauritius.
The island of Mauritius has attracted more than a billion dollars in foreign investment in the banking sector and more than nine thousand foreign entities. But how can that be? Are they growing golden coconuts that the rest of us do not know about? Do they have an ancient buried treasure that had been hidden for centuries and recently was discovered? The answer to that question is both yes and no.
The treasure that can be found in this island that has attracted so many investors and millions of dollars of investment is quite simply: Tax - or rather the lack thereof. Of course the fact that the island has its own flourishing economy (more than a few coconuts: sugar production, tourism, clothing manufacturing, information technology) and that it has a stable government are also major drawing cards, but the biggest attraction that makes this island so irresistible to foreign investors is the extremely low and sometimes non-existent tax that is issued to foreign investment on the island.
So the next time somebody asks you to invest in an island, don't ask them if they're crazy; ask them if the island is Mauritius.
For more information on Investing in Mauritius visit Dale Trust International
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