The Isle of Man has both maintained and improved its competitiveness and currently stands as one of the world’s leading jurisdictions for e-business, according to a recently published report.
The findings of the report by Charteris, the IT consulting firm, were announced by the Isle of Man government last week, and according to the company, the Isle of Man has been "very successful in maintaining a strong and steady marketing position on e-business compared with its jurisdictional competitors".
“Amongst those who are aware of the Isle of Man’s positioning, it is seen as a good example of how to get things right, and the standard to be achieved – a number of official publications by competitor jurisdictions explicitly say so," the report observed.
Charteris noted that the decision to introduce a 0% corporate tax regime, coupled with a cap on personal income tax at a maximum level of £100,000 per annum, have been key in transforming the Island into a leader on the e-commerce front.
Other factors crucial to the growth of e-commerce in the jurisdiction include increased off-Island competition as a result of the licensing of Cable & Wireless, which has led to lower bandwidth costs; provision of new world-class hosting facilities in the form of Manx Telecom’s new Douglas North facility; evidence of clustering in the online gambling sector and the beginnings of “stickiness” of operators in the sector; a number of “excellent sales wins”, including NETeller, Microgaming, Poker Stars and Inca Gold; and clear signs of significant improvement in collaboration between business and Government on e-business and economic development issues.
Tim Craine, Isle of Man Government Director of E-Business and Space Commerce, commented that the Charteris report was a "clear endorsement of the e-business strategy pursued by Government over the last 5 years".
"The report itself highlights how we have developed the Island’s proposition, increased our lead over our competitors and placed ourselves in an ideal position to take our share of new and emerging opportunities in the area of converging technologies," Mr Craine noted.
"However, we are not complacent and the report also highlights how and where we can make further improvements," he added.
