GIIF: India Visit

Nikhil Treebhoohun, GIIF CEO, was in India from April 15 to 22 in order to establish contacts for GIIF in India, to interact with PR firms, and to gauge the situation with respect to DTAA.

Contacts were established with a wide array of professionals both in Mumbai and Delhi. The discussions centred on how best to project the image of Mauritius as an efficient jurisdiction from which to do business not only in India but also in Africa and other regions of the world. Suggestions were made about holding a Global Africa Business Meeting in Mauritius to create a platform to facilitate financial services flow between India and Africa.

Meetings were also held with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).  CII is willing to sign a MOU with GIIF. It was suggested that we create a Services Industry CEOs Forum which could meet alternately in India and Mauritius. Mrs. Sudhakaran, the assistant secretary-general of FICCI, suggested the holding of a round table with selected financial institutions from here and some of her members to brainstorm on how Mauritius could be used to facilitate financial transactions between India and Mauritius. This could be held as early as June. She also mentioned the idea of an Africa Fund.

PR/COMMUNICATION

Two PR firms were met: LOWE Lintas in Mumbai and Ogilvy in Delhi. Both confirmed that Mauritius seemed to be totally absent in the communications battle, not only in the press but also in different networks. Mauritius does not have a presence on the ground. The perception that Mauritius is a pass-through was reinforced by the fact that no rebuttal was ever seen.

INDIA DTAA

Several informal meetings were held. The main message that was conveyed to GIIF’s interlocutors was that Mauritius was looking for clarity, certainty, no treaty override and time and assistance to build up more substance. Those in the ministry of finance were only interested by the fact that operators were avoiding taxes while those in the PMO were more willing to consider the special relationship angle.

The hawkish view is that Mauritius is being used essentially for round tripping and for treaty shopping. They believe that if the Mauritius route did not exist, there might be a drop in the very short term but India will not lose anything in the long term.  However, assurance was provided that Mauritius is not being specifically targeted. The GAAR will apply to all jurisdictions prospectively.

These issues will be discussed further at the first Quarterly GIIF Members Meeting which will be held on Monday 7 May.