Issam Sarkis: “Tax is only one aspect of being an offshore company”

One of the major players of the domestic offshore industry is in process of consolidating its presence on the market through recruitment. Aspen Global Chief Financial Officer speaks on the major challenges facing the sector.

BUSINESSMAG. Aspen Group is the fifth largest generic drug manufacturer in the world, managing more than 4,500 trademarks sold in more than 150 countries. All that is managed here, from your Mauritius headquarters. What are the advantages of managing business from Mauritius?

There are a few advantages. Aspen is unique in the sense that although we are an offshore company, we feel very Mauritian and are proud to be so. The reason I say that is because we really have a full-fledge set-up and substance and manage everything from Mauritius. Some of the obvious advantages for an offshore business are of course the facts that Mauritius is a very business-friendly environment and the offshore jurisdiction offers a lot of benefits. I also think that from a talent perspective, Mauritius has a very good education system. Mauritians master multiple languages and the world’s business language, which is English. A big portion of the labour market is composed of young educated people. So, the market is quite attractive for a company like us.

BUSINESSMAG. Several offshore companies often voice out problems about the local talent pool. What are the solutions that can be implemented to address these?

One of the major challenges about the local talent pool is the lack of exposure. While the education is very good, it is hard for big multinational companies such as Aspen to find candidates who have worked in Mauritius all their life with the level of exposure we need in certain roles. It takes time to train and develop people but at Aspen, we invest a lot in our human capital: on average 24 hours and Rs 30,000 per year per employee.

Therefore, one of our preferred recruiting channels is returning Mauritians because it is a win-win for everyone: Aspen, the candidate and Mauritius.

BUSINESSMAG. What are the other challenges of being an offshore company based in Mauritius?

I think the availability of more qualified human capital at some levels is the main challenge. What I would personally like to see is a larger and more diversified offshore sector in Mauritius. Today when I look around, the offshore sector is made up mainly of financial services and ICT BPO companies. I don’t know of any offshore company like Aspen in Mauritius with the same substance and size. If more companies like Aspen existed, this would create a virtuous cycle not just for human capital but on many other fronts as well.

BUSINESSMAG. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently drew the government’s attention to the risks the offshore sector represents to our local banking industry. What is your opinion on this?

I wasn’t surprised to read the IMF’s recommendation to create a macro-prudential authority. This is in line with the change that has started in the world few years ago. All countries are pushing for more transparency and more sharing of information amongst different tax authorities. My view is that the IMF’s main objective is to push that agenda for the Mauritian authorities to share more information with their counterparts from a tax perspective. The OECD has issued very similar guidelines with the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measures.

BUSINESSMAG. Could we perhaps be moving towards the extinction of Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) eventually?

In my opinion, there is a general misconception that offshore companies are associated with DTAAs. Tax is one aspect of being an offshore company but it is not the only one. Mauritius has a good banking sector with good products and access to capital markets. It has a good infrastructure, a safe and stable political environment and good human capital. So there are things to attract investors other than just tax.

BUSINESSMAG. What are the big projects ahead for the group?

Aspen will continue to look for big acquisitions to grow its business. We are busy with value creation projects, specifically launching line extensions and new products in new markets. We also have 60 open positions to recruit in Mauritius. So stay tuned as we will launch advertising campaigns for these. Finally, we are also looking at doing a major ERP change and moving to a state-of-the-art SAP IT system.