The Holiday Tree

It's that wonderful time in Mauritius again.

The tourists are everywhere. The taxi drivers are starting to smile - it's been a while.

Bodies bask on the beaches, enjoying the 30 degree warmth as Europe braces for another snowy snap.

From Anahita to Bel Ombre, the blue sea sparkles invitingly from lush green fairways.

Flamboyant Tree - Ritesh SEEBORUTH, http://mauritius22.blogspot.com

And everywhere you drive, the fabulous Flamboyant trees show off their splendour. Until the first cyclone blows all the flowers off, that is. Then we have a red carpet for a day or two.

We also have a carpet of mangoes after a cyclone. In fact, it is an interesting study of demand and supply. Compare the price of mangoes before the first cyclone (Rs10) and after (Rs1). The price goes back up after about a week when there are suddenly no mangoes to be had, come hellishly hot weather or cyclonically high water.

You may notice that I seem to be a bit stuck on this cyclone theme. At the time of typing, Cyclone Cleo is heading this way. Winds inside the cyclone are over 200 km per hour. The forecasters are predicting that Cleo will start weakening before she hits Mauritius on around Monday 14 December. I hope so. I want to play golf at Bel Ombre this weekend.

But back to the main topic of this blog...Flamboyant Trees. They are our Holiday Tree, the symbol of Summer in Mauritius. Who needs a Christmas Tree when you have bright red and orange Flamboyants decorating the island?

If you really must have a Christmas Tree, get a fake one. We have so few conifers in this country, I suggest we spare these poor pines their annual execution, and rejoice instead in the natural beauty of the Flamboyant. And the unnatural beauty of the little plastic tree that folds away for next year.

The Crook Hit Parade

The Corruption Perception Index is out. How did we do out of the 180 countries included?

Mauritius 42nd. That's down one place from last year. Oops.

Our friend Singapore nailed this survey, coming third after New Zealand and Denmark.

And our African neighbours?

Botswana was the least corrupt at 37th. Then Mauritius. Next down was Cape Verde on 46th, then South Africa on 55th. Well done? I suppose relatively speaking it could be worse...see below:

Other SADC countries were less impressive: Namibia 56th, Swaziland 79th, Lesotho 89th (with Malawi) Madagascar 99th. Bottom of the SADC pile are Mozambique 130th (equal to Nigeria) and our sick friend Zimbabwe at 146th. Other regional notables were Angola and the DRC tied at 162nd.

No surprises who came stone last. In descending order are Iraq, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and finally Somalia.

Draw your own conclusions.

To read the actual survey, go to:

http://transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table

Chronically Cyclonic?

I consider myself to be a cyclone guru. Most people in Mauritius would agree with me. They also consider themselves to be cyclone gurus.

Today is November 15th, 2009, the official start date of the cyclone season, so I snuck in and updated this post. Our first cyclone of the season arrived on time. Early this morning Cyclone Anja was given her name. She has been hovering as a numbered storm near Diego Garcia for the last few days, but is now heading south south-west. Anja looks like she could threaten Rodrigues (an island to the east of Mauritius) and then head south. No cause for concern at this stage.

Cyclone Anja - 15 Nov 2009

Risk of cyclones exists from Spring to Autumn, with peak season in February.

Cyclone info for Dummies:

Warm seas cause cyclones. That is why they appear in the southern hemisphere in our summer and the northern hemisphere in theirs.

What is the difference between a Cyclone, a Hurricane, a Typhoon and a Tornado?

Cyclones in the Indian Ocean, Hurricanes in the Atlantic and Typhoons in the Pacific. Tornados? Twisters, usually found hurling cows and cars around the southern US. Nothing to do with this blog.

What happens?

A low pressure system forms over a warm bit of water, clouds form, then storms. These storms become bigger and combine. Winds in the storm cell begin to grow, the wind caused by the rotation of the earth starts spinning the clouds around (clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

The air then behaves like water down a plug hole and the storm (low pressure system) draws ever increasingly powerful winds spinning in at right angles (cariolus effect, I think) to the centre of the system. It also draws more water vapour into the system. Soon you have this massive lump of spinning storm that wanders around the sea being guided by the air moved by the spinning earth, nudged by high pressure ridges, and chipped away by wind shear, until it hits land. The cyclone then runs out of water vapour to suck into the system, and starts losing power, until it fades away. Or it gets pushed into cooler seas and collapses by itself.

If you want to track a cyclone

If you want to track a cyclone and don't have the internet to do this, all you need is a barometer and your left arm. For the smart asses out there who are sniggering at the absence of logic in the previous sentence, let me just inform you that when a cyclone gets close, the lights go out. Internet will be patchy at best, and subject to battery life or generators. You will also have no radio, or TV. A barometer and a left arm can then be quite appreciated. Read on...

As the barometer falls to around 1000 Mb (millibars) and then below, the wind will grow. Clouds and rain will probably be significant weather features at this time.

When the winds are gusting at a fair rate, turn your face into the wind (so that it blows your hair back), and point out your left arm sideways (away from your left ear- but don't look at your finger or you will end up pointing behind you!). Your finger will be aiming at the cylcone. As the storm tracks around you, the wind direction will change, the pressure will drop and you will be able to work out the rough direction of the cyclone. Take care not to get hit by a flying branch or piece of corrugated iron. Winds of 270 k's per hour have been recorded. A solid object flying at that speed is likely to go straight through you.

If the wind suddenly stops and everything is calm, you are in the eye. Don't go fishing. In a short period of time the storm will return with a vengeance. When you notice the barometer going back up, you will know the storm has passed and the weather will be improving.

Here are the storm tracks for last season (2008/2009) compliments of Meteo France - Reunion

Visit them on: http://www.meteo.fr/temps/domtom/La_Reunion/#

You will notice that there are ten tracks above, because there were ten 'named' storms. Also notice how lucky we were in Mauritius.

Once a storm is named, it becomes official and then applies to the small print of your insurance policies. Earlier in this blog, I referred to numbered storms. These don't get included. Cyclones all start their life as numbered storms and then as they get big and strong enough, they get names in alphabetical order as the year progresses.

Our list of names for this year is:

Anja, Bongani, Cleo, David, Edzani, Fami, Gelane, Hubert, Imani, Joel, Kanja, Lunda, Mohono, Nigel, Olympe, Pamela, Quentin, Rahim, Savana, Themba, Uyapo, Viviane, Walter, Xangy, Yemurai, Zanele.

The countries in the region all have a chance to propose names for cyclones, so if you ever want to have one named after you, become friends with someone who works in the met office of any country in our region (South Western Indian Ocean).

The met office predicts ten named storms for this season. This is an average and is not news.

Mauritius is due a big cyclone.

We haven't had a serious one since 1994 (Hollanda) and it seems that a major cyclone hits Mauritius every ten to fifteen years. Oh Oh. 2010-1994=16 years.

But being the eternal optimist, and armed with my own theory of how global warming has affected cyclonic behaviour, I will predict that we will have a number of bad weather days with clouds and lots of rain but no damage, as cyclones form over us, to move on and descend on poor Madagascar, as well as the east coast of Africa from Durban to Beira.

What is my theory?

Cyclones are like Goldilocks, and like forming in water that is not too hot, and not too cold.

This perfect temperature has been moving slowly southwards as global warming heats the oceans. The optimum place for formation of cyclones has moved from somewhere near Diego Garcia (1000 odd kilometres north north east of us) in a south westerly direction towards us. More and more cyclones are being formed further and further south west. This bodes well for us as we may miss more and more. Bad news for the dudes in Madagascar and South Eastern Africa. The counter argument is that as the sea warms we will simply get more cyclones. I don't like this argument, it makes me uncomfortable!

What facts do I have to support this theory?

OK, the facts I have are unlikely to put me on any Nobel Prize Winner's list, but here they are:

Using Meteo France's past cyclone maps of cyclone tracks (see image above) I looked at all their maps, from the season starting in 2003, to the one that ended this year. That's only five maps. I then counted all the named cyclones that made it to the Mozambique Channel each season. Here are my results:

2003 3/10 (season starting 2003, 3 named cyclones out of 10)

2004 2/10

2005 1/6

2006 5 / 15

2007 4/14

2008 3/10

Not conclusive, but certainly not getting any less.

I then looked at the number of cyclones each year that formed below -10 degrees south (roughly where Diego-Garcia Island is).

Here are my results:

2003 5/10 (season starting 2003, named cyclones formed south of -10 degrees south)

2004 1/10

2005 3/6

2006 9/15

2007 9/15

2008 7/10 This shows that a growing percentage of cyclones are forming further south.

Now any weather man will tell you that you can't detect a weather trend over such a short period of time. So let's keep watching, and see if I am wrong.

For the latest cyclone bulletin, sat photo or storm tracks for this season, go to frontfin.com and click on weather links.

Are the Permanent Residence Rules on their way?

The Captain was has heard that the Board of Investment says that any investor who sets up a business that generates a turnover of over USD500 000 per annum will get permanent residence for 10 years.

This is nothing new. On the frontfin.com website, we have been saying something similar for a number of years. The only change is that it is US denominated and not Rs15 million (roughly equivalent to half a million USD).

What is new is that they are waiting for the start of Mauritian parliament next week to get this going.

What is also new is an indication of what happens after the 10 years 'permanent residence'. Here they say that the permit will lapse after ten years, after which the holder may stay in Mauritius indefinitely and seek citizenship. Nice!

What is disconcerting is that this may only apply to those with occupation permits based on turnover. What about the other categories of Occupation Permit, namely the Self Employed and the Professionals.

And what about the retirees?

Watch this space.

Can Mauritius ever be like Singapore?

My previous post showed Singapore once again top of the global log in ‘Ease of Doing Business’. While Mauritius did really well at 14^th place, how do we get better?

The obvious answer is to use Singapore as a role model.

I have been to Singapore a number of times, the first when I was five years old, looking for a school. The country was then part of Malaya. Every country in the region was trying to kick out their colonisers (the English) and my family were leaving Sarawak (also part of Malaya) due to political insecurity.

For the geographically challenged, Singapore is a pimple below the Malaysian Subcontinent. It is separated from mainland Malaysia by the Johore Strait, so it's a sort of island. Mauritius is a pimple three times the size of Singapore in the middle of the Indian Ocean, so it is definitely an island.

Both Singapore and Mauritius are challenged when it comes to natural resources. Singapore has none, while Mauritius has a sugar crop and tourist beaches. The sugar crop is at its maximum productive capacity, and there are only so many beaches, So long term, if Mauritius is to grow, it has to use something other than its natural resources.

Singapore was always been a trading post. It has an edge on Mauritius when it comes to being a commercial hub due to its proximity to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India as well as Korea and China. And a quick look at Changi’s magnificent airport or the sprawling harbour makes one realise that it would be folly to try to copy those, except in a small way.

We have a Freeport, and Mauritius took a very hard look at Singapore’s legislation when it set this up in 1993. The positive effect the Freeport has had on Mauritius is that it improved our light industrial infrastructure and makes it easy for new small added value operations to benefit from the enabling business environment and our fist-full of export friendly treaties. We are very far from being an attractive air transit location, and I don’t believe we should try to copy Singapore here. There is just too much sea to cross.

So what is left?

Shopping:

Singapore is famous for its shopping, and Mauritius set itself a target of becoming a duty free island, a shopper’s paradise, some years back. Import duties have come down, and shopping centres have gone up. So we are getting there. We don’t have much of a domestic consumer base compared to Singapore. They have 4,84 million people (compared to Mauritius with 1,3m) with an annual per person spending power of $47 940 (10^th in the World) compared to Mauritius at $12 480 (85^th). Simply put, that is four times as many people with four times as much money.

So our target should be to have a shopping paradise about one sixteenth the size of that on Orchard Road. Not so far to go.

Banking:

The financial services sector of Singapore has been the envy of many countries, big and small. They have had enabling legislation and their sector has thrived. Expatriates once dominated this sector and to an extent are still prevalent, but the quality of home grown banker or stock broker is now world class.

Singapore is very business friendly when it comes to banking. I am afraid Mauritius has a long way to go here, with some of the most demanding due diligence requirements in the world that stifle efficiency and destroy transactions.

This is a Must Fix.

This leads me to the next area where we can do better:

Bureaucracy

Singaporean government officials are some of the most highly qualified, and well paid in the world. They fight for their jobs and are measured on performance. Unfortunately, in Mauritius, too many jobs go to friends or are given out as political favours.

There are many very competent hard working individuals in government and it is always a pleasure dealing with them, but behind these hard working few, are the many who could do more.

Ok, so where is Mauritius better?

Unless you like living in an apartment in a city, with the air conditioner running 24/7, Mauritius is a nicer place to live. There is more space, nicer beaches, less city. It is warm but not unbearably so. As a tourist destination or place to retire, we have got Singapore licked.

I think there are more business opportunities in Mauritius because we have further to go in terms of development. Our population is well educated but not as crazily stressed about education as Singapore, where schools operate two shifts per day. Where children never get a chance to play. (I should write a song!)

India and China

Our biggest hope for growth and development comes from India and China.

After India and Nepal, Mauritius has the highest percentage of Hindu population (around 50%). Mauritius is in many ways a home from home for Indians wishing to do business here. This plus the fact that Mauritius is the biggest foreign direct investor into India (44% as of June 2009) gives India a very important role in the future of Mauritius. Singapore is the second biggest investor into India at 9%. Just this statistic on its own gives a hint at how Mauritius can develop, and also shows how important the double taxation avoidance treaty between India and Mauritius is - for both countries.

And then we come to a huge pot of gold at the end of the Mauritian rainbow: China.

President Hu Jintao visited Mauritius in February this year. He is a busy guy, so to come to a country with a population equivalent to 0.1% of his country says something. Here is the difference: Mauritius 1,3m - China 1 338,6m

It also shows that all we need is a tiny piece of the Chinese action to make a huge difference to Mauritius.

Mauritius has apportioned a zone to the north of Port Louis for Chinese development, and I watch the development there grow each day on my way to the office. The natural resources of Africa, and to a lesser extent, Madagascar, are obviously the ultimate objective of the Chinese, and with Mauritius the leader in political and business friendliness in the region, including Africa, I can see our role evolving as a result of these forces. I suspect we will see a push into our services sector coming from Hong Kong and Singapore. It may already be happening for all I know.

Most Important things for Mauritius to do:

• Improve Telecoms especially internet
• Improve road infrastructure
• Reduce financial sector over-regulation

That’s not such a big job.

We are working on our roads – after a long rest.

Fibre optical cables are being laid all the time. Technicians are getting better (I hope and trust).

Financial regulation must change - away from appeasing high tax countries and towards greater business orientation. Less repetitive due dilligence, information sharing and wasteful reporting and more transactional efficiency.

Or the heart will stop beating.

Ease of Doing Business: Mauritius 14th in the World

I am so proud.

I noticed a buzz of activity yesterday in our neighbour's offices. TV cameras, rows of coffee cups, smartly dressed execs. I wondered what was going on. Our neighbour is the World Bank and they were releasing the results of their latest annual Doing Business Survey.

A total of 183 countries were surveyed. Did we do well? DID WE DO WELL???

Let me show you how well we did!

Ease of Doing Business - 14th (in the world)
Starting a Business - 10th (10th!!!) (In the world)
Trading Across Borders - 19th

For our South African readers, here's how you did:

Ease of Doing Business - 34th
Starting a Business - 67th
Trading Across Borders - 148th Wow...how about that? Time you opened an office in Mauritius, non?

Those better than Mauritius at Ease of Doing Business (the summary statistic) are, in ascending order:

Finland (16), Japan (15), Iceland (14) - this is the only 'small country' better than Mauritius, by the way - Saudi Arabia (13) but try buying a beer there, Thailand (12), Georgia (11), Norway (10), Australia (9), Canada (8), Ireland (7), Denmark (6), UK (5), US (4), Hong Kong (3), New Zealand (2)...and the winner is Singapore (1).

Out of interest I went to Wikipedia and pulled the maximum tax rates for Corporate and Individual Taxes for this same illustrious group and the countries.

Guess what?

Lowest maximum corporate tax rates go to:

Singapore (17%), Hong Kong (16.5%), Georgia (15%), Mauritius (15%), Ireland (12.5%)

Lowest maximum personal tax rates go to:

Hong Kong (15%), Mauritius (15%) and Singapore, Georgia and Saudi Arabia at 20%.

No country taxes less than Mauritius if you add both the corporate and individual maximums.

Why have I used maximum rates? The simple answer is that most countries have differential tax rates and it is not easy to compare one to another any other way. It is possible to be taxed less than 15% in Mauritius, for example, but that requires some planning. The same applies to every country in the world to some extent.

Oh and by the way, South Africa's maximum tax rate for Corporates is 28% and for Individuals, it is 40%.

If you would like to have a look at the World Bank 'Doing Business 2010 Report'
go to

http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/

I am so proud!

Tamarina and Villas Valriche

Our annual three day golf tournament against eight South Africans ended on Sunday.

This year it was held at Tamarina and Golf du Chateau (Villas Valriche) Golf courses, with us staying in two Tamarina Villas kindly donated for this purpose by the owners.

Apart from being a great week and a good result for the Mauritian Cane Rats against the South African Warthogs, it was also a chance to take stock of two IRS developments...Tamarina Golf, Spa and Beach Resort and Villas Valriche.

Tamarina:

Tamarina is an Integrated Resort Scheme that is set on the West Coast of Mauritius near the towns of Tamarin and Black River. The Villas are very comfortable. We stayed in a four bedroom unit overlooking a ravine with the Black River Gorge in the distance. Tamarin Trees and a Mirador (old wooden hunting tower) framed our view, over the sparkling rim flow pool.

We would watch the clouds dump their rain in the gorge and then wait for it to hit us. But it usually petered out. Tamarina has a very low rainfall and is protected from the wind, and the golf course looks like your typical bush veld course in South Africa.

The greens were true and the fairways manicured and well maintained and a lot of fun to play.

Club House staff were attentive, efficient, and friendly. They went to a lot of trouble to make our round and our stay as pleasant as possible. Thanks to O'Brian Barber for welcoming us and organising things.

One evening we went down to the Beach Club, where you can sit perched over the beach on your lounger or in the pool and enjoy the waves breaking below. We had a lot of fun kicking a rugby ball on the beach or simply standing in the sea, sipping a beer and enjoying the evening.

My only niggles were that the hot water took a long time to get to the showers, even though the hot water circulation system was switched on, and that it is a long drive around for cars to the Beach Club. Golf Carts have their own more direct route.

Villas Valriche

Villas Valriche is perched over the Peter Matkovitch designed course of Golf Du Chateau, on the South Coast. We have played the course many times and love it. The greens are perfect and the fairways manicured. The prevailing South Easterly can make the course challenging and anyone with a par on 17 should be happy if not surprised.



Villas Valriche IRS units are currently under construction.

The Villas are arranged around the high ground behind the golf course with stunning sea views. The south coast is indisputably the prettiest part of Mauritius and there are miles and miles of public beaches with closely mown grass running down to the coral sands. Two five start resorts offer privelaged access to owners allowing for the enjoyment of the best of both worlds, self-catering independence, with five star pampering if desired.

The golf team under golf director Steven Shearer is friendly, professional and attentive. Their eye for detail is a pleasure. The resident golf pro, Garrick Barnard, is an inspiration and has a wonderful effect on my game while he is watching. It is a pity I seem to forget everything the next time I play. The practice facilities are fantastic.

There is one completed Villa overlooking the Tee Box on the Second Hole, and the design is not that different from the Tamarina Look. Shingled roofs with Bali Accents. Nice big windows to take in the views

I am told that a beach house will be available to owners but personally, I would like to explore all the coves and beaches nearby. I am sure I could find one just for me. I also like the fact that I can use two hotels, their pools, restaurants, spas and beaches, if I feel like it.

Surfers (Wind, Kite and Board) will be happy to be based at either location. It is less than half an hour from both Villas Valriche and Tamarina to Le Morne. This is the principal kite and wind surfing spot in Mauritius and attracts serious participants from around the world. Board surfers are looked after at nearby One - Eye, where a wave is present most of the time. Tamarin Bay is also surfable with a southerly or westerly wind. There is another beach near Valriche that attracts surfers but the name escapes me. I do know that it has a sign that says Swimmers Will Be Drowned if they use this beach.

Which do I prefer? I can't say.

Valriche is not finished yet, and with prices ranging from $1.2m upwards, they look like a good deal. High points for me at Valriche are the awsome views, established Championship golf course plus a good quality Mashie Course, shared by two excellent hotels. And I love the beautiful coastline.

Tamarina is finished and resales are upwards of $1.6m to $2.5m. It is very close to supermarkets, shops, some restuarants and Big Willy's - the local hang out. No sea views unfortunately, but access to a brilliant beach and I love the Beach House.