An investor office will soon be established to promote international investments
Following the government’s “Choose New Caledonia” international investment program, the southern province will establish an investor office that will become quickly operational.
With the Caledonian economy on standby due to Covid-19 and to the decrease of nickel value, there is the need to create an ecosystem that is beneficial to investments and to the development of new activities in New Caledonia. This office will also help investors go through the Caledonian administrative burden and simplify the entire investment process.
New Caledonia used to be attractive to investors 25 years ago, it is less so the case today. In order to become attractive again, the southern province is counting on the security of the French system with its rule of law and its administrative rigor while taking advantage of the autonomy of the territory to create a more agile Anglo-Saxon system and promote business creation. The ambition of the territory would be to appear on the "Doing Business" ranking of the World Bank, which ranks 190 countries in terms of their ease of doing business.
Different types of investors are targeted: foreign companies wanting to create a branch in Caledonia, those who want to partner with a local company, or simply people with a budget to invest in a new activity. The investor office particularly advocates the return of young Caledonian talents under 35 years of age.
As such, two measures will be proposed to the assembly of the southern province by the end of July: the first being an aid for business creation of 5 million francs, the other being a support on salary costs for up to 18 months for companies to hire highly skilled individuals.
This office will allow investors to easily obtain the information they are looking for and to obtain expertise on the regulatory and tax framework of New Caledonia.
The province is looking forward to the government launching its Choose New Caledonia program which will strengthen the territory's attractiveness. The last hurdle will be the reopening of borders in order to see this new policy materialise.