The mood in the offshore sector on Tuesday could be gauged by the gloomy faces which filed silently out of the conference room following the meeting Minister of Financial Services Roshi Bhadain had with professionals from the offshore and the banking sectors. It was one of doom and gloom. Their comments? None on record. Off-record, we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the Mauritius/India investment route. Billions of rupees of investment. Thousands of meaningful jobs.

Yet, at the end of last week, some ministers were almost thumping their chests about what they tried to peddle as a breakthrough in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) we have with India. Enthusiasm was high; the terms of the agreement top secret. Until former Minister of Finance Rama Sithanen and former Governor of the Central Bank Dan Maraye let the cat out of the bag.

Or did they? Bhadain’s immediate reaction was to call an urgent meeting to ask the economic operators not to give any credence to “comments made in the press” about any adverse impact the re-negotiated treaty may have on the industry. “Mauritius will still remain competitive as a jurisdiction vis-à-vis Singapore, which also has a favourable treaty with India,” the minister said, “and the new treaty will provide ample opportunities for the global business sector.”

The professionals present listened but asked no questions. For them, the only relevant question is simple but could not be answered at the meeting: Has Mauritius given in to India’s condition to charge investors going through Mauritius Capital Gains Taxes? The rest is neither here nor there. Sithanen’s and Maraye’s answer is “YES”. Bhadain neither denied nor confirmed that. Naturally, he is bound by confidentiality.

In our innocence and naivety, we have always romanticised our relationship with India. We have to grow up and realise that the business world is a harsh one where only those with strong economic and diplomatic muscle will survive. And we will not survive by continuously undermining ourselves, our institutions and our credibility as a sound reputable jurisdiction which we took years to build. Signing a treaty in itself is not necessarily the be-all and end-all. It is the terms of the treaty which are important. The Double Taxation Agreement signed with South Africa amid much fanfare, for example, was sold to us as a great success which would generate billions in investment. Did it?

The number of jobs being lost is worrying and the trend is not being reversed. German reinsurance giant, Munich Reinsurance, the world’s largest reinsurance company, present in Mauritius for the last 25 years, has just announced the closure of its Mauritius subsidiary, which was its sub-Saharan Africa headquarters, servicing businesses in more than 40 countries in Africa. Another casualty which will result in over 40 professionals finding themselves out in the cold as from today and this is likely to have a domino-effect.

It is perhaps time our financial services minister took his foot off the communication/spin pedal and put pedal to the metal in the job he is paid to do.  Because if the bell tolls for the offshore sector, it may also toll for him.