New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): Mauritius Minister of Financial Services and Economic Development Jyoti Jeetun stated on Wednesday that the country was 'never a tax haven,' but rather a low-tax jurisdiction, which has led to several reported cases.

She assured that the country has been constantly working to catch any tax-related 'abuse', emphasising that there haven't been any recent cases.

Jyoti Jeetun said, '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.'

Mauritius was put on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2020 due to cases related to money laundering. It was removed from the grey list in 2023.

Speaking about the measures taken to counter the black money issue, she said that Mauritius has 12 agencies involved in supervision and regulation.

'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. We are working very hard. We have 12 agencies that are involved in supervision, regulation,' Minister of Financial Services said.

Speaking about Mauritius' relation with India and China, she said that the country maintains good relationships with both countries and does not compare one to the other.

'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 has close and longstanding relations with Mauritius. A key reason for the special ties is that Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70% of the island's population of 1.2 million (28% Creole, 3% Sino-Mauritian, 1% Franco-Mauritian).

Earlier, the High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, Anurag Srivastava, officially handed over the first batch of ten electric buses (E-buses) to Prime Minister Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam to strengthen the 'green partnership' between India and Mauritius. (ANI)