Corporate Governance Chapter 5 commitment to improving its competitiveness through various regulatory reforms during the last five years. It describes Mauritius as the country with the most favourable business regulations in the African region. In 2007 and 2008, Mauritius introduced reforms to areas like starting businesses, registering property and getting credit. 670. 671. The BOI, together the Ministry of Finance and Economic Empowerment (MOFEE), established four technical working groups (TWGs) in 2007. They comprise key representatives from the public and the private sectors who work on areas where Mauritius ranked poorly. These were: (i) dealing with licences; (ii) registering property; (iii) getting credit; and (iv) enforcing contracts. The objective of each TWG was to make specific recommendations. Each would eventually be converted into administrative and policy reforms aimed at improving the investment climate in Mauritius. The Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) chaired the TWG on enforcing contracts. Its recommendations included introducing specialised commercial courts, e-filing and e-courts, case management practices and commercial arbitration. Such a consultative approach from the government can contribute significantly to improving the ease of doing business in the country. The chamber anticipates working more closely with public authorities on similar initiatives. The same report ranks Mauritius an impressive 24 out of 181 economies surveyed in the overall Ease of Doing Business Survey (see table 5.1 and figure 5.1). Table 5.1: Mauritius’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business 2009 Survey Category Ranking Ease of doing business (overall) 24 Starting a business 7 Dealing with construction permits 36 Employing workers 64 Registering property 127 Getting credit 84 Protecting investors 11 Paying taxes 11 Trading across borders 20 Enforcing contracts 76 Closing a business 70 Chapter 5 Corporate Governance Figure 5.1: Mauritius – ease of doing business Source: World Bank. Doing Business Survey 2009. 672. Starting a business. The first hurdles entrepreneurs face when they draw up business plans and try to implement them are the procedures they must follow to register new firms. Economies differ greatly in how they regulate the entry of new businesses. The process is straightforward and affordable in some. In others, the procedures are so burdensome that entrepreneurs sometimes resort to bribing officials in order to speed up the process. They may even decide to run their business informally. Table 5.2: Starting a business in Mauritius Doing business 2007 Doing business 2008 Doing business 2009 Rank 8 7 Procedures (number) 6 6 5 Duration (days) 46 7 6 Source: World Bank. Doing Business Survey 2009. 673. Table 5.2 shows that there have been significant improvements in starting a business in Mauritius in the last three years. The number of days it takes to start a business, for example, reduced drastically from 46 days in 2007 to a mere six days in 2009. 674. According to the interaction the CRM had with stakeholders, participants also believe that the procedure for starting a business in Mauritius is very efficient – it takes a maximum of five working days to get a permit. The participants also felt that the relevant ministries are extremely helpful in processing permits for starting businesses. Source: World Bank. Doing Business Survey 2009. 246 247