Making Wise Investments in The Seychelles

A group of 115 islands in the midst of the Indian Ocean, Seychelles is located between the 4 and 5 degrees towards the south of the equator.

Because of the fact that the archipelago is out of the cyclonic region, the weather remains stable year round with the average maximum temperature of 29 degree Celsius.

Thus in view of the geographical conditions and weather context, Seychelles makes one of the best abode for the visiting tourists from all over the world. The rainy season comes in December and January when the archipelago experiences heavy rainfall. The environment is one of the best and unspoiled across the globe.

Nearly 82,000 people reside on this archipelago. 70,000 of them live in Mahe alone. The populace is a mixture of the African, Malagasy as well as the French strains.

Official language is French based Creole while two other languages, English and French, are officially recognized as well. The island is one of the British Colonies since 1903.

Abolition of Slavery in 1835 proved disastrous initially for the economy. However, the country has grown economically by leaps and bounds since 1976 under a very stable Government.

Administration in the archipelago, that is one of the independent republics, is carried on by a unicameral Assembly of People that has 34 seats. 25 of them are elected by popular franchise and nine are allocated on proportion of votes owned by the parties with the cut off line being 10% or more. Political equation today is that the Progressive Front has 23 seats as against 11 held by the National Party.

If you are interested in investing in this country or Seychellen that seems to have an ideal environment for the overseas investors, it is imperative for you to learn a little about the economy, currency, market trends, and local legislations there. You will have to decide the location as well. Not much homework is needed on that account though since with 70,000 out 82,000 population overall, Mahe seems to be the ideal spot for you and you could always try Flug Seychellen instead of going on a cruise ship.

While the early dependence of the economy was mainly centered on the growth of cotton, the economy switched over to the coconut industry after the slavery system was abolished. Two new avenues have been added to the economy to day. They are fishing, and tourism.

Keen on creating a favorable environment for the foreign investments, the Government of Seychelles has come up with several legislations. The Investment Promotion Act of 1994 leads the list.

Many incentives have been guaranteed for investments. For instance when a certificate of approval is granted subsequent tax cannot be imposed to the disadvantage of the investor. You get import duty exemption on primary inputs. You can employ 50% of foreign staff with 25% of them at the special rates. Above all you can get concessionary business tax rates of around 15% to 40%.

Tourism and hotel industry could be your best bet for investment. he reason is that tourism counts for around 70% of the foreign exchange earnings of the country.

International Airport at Mahe handles no less than 250,000 passengers every year. Tastes and interests of the overseas visitors will be better appreciated by you and you will have clear edge over the local counterparts.