Mauritius targets duty free shoppers in retail expansion

The Mauritian government plans to develop the Indian Ocean island nation as a center for duty free shopping, Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth said.

Turnover from the industry could reach 20 billion rupees ($723 million) by 2020 from 7 billion rupees at the moment, according to estimates from the ministry, which is based in the capital,Port Louis.

“Our initial target is to attract around 200,000 shoppers from emerging markets, includingIndia, as well as from traditional markets like Europe,” Jugnauth said in an e-mailed statement today.

Property development and shopping mall projects in the pipeline will require investment of $2.3 billion, according to data from the Board of Investment website. The country’s biggest shopping mall, developed by ENL Property Ltd. of Mauritius, a subsidiary of ENL group and Atterbury ofSouth Africa, is scheduled to open on Sept. 29.

Tourism is the country’s main source of foreign currency, with revenue expected to rise 7.7 percent to 42.5 billion rupees in 2011, the Central Statistics Office said on Feb. 25.