Data-center law in Kiribati

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-05

Kiribati has no data-center-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; a data-center project is governed by the general investment framework of the Foreign Investment Act 2018. The Act was assented to by the Beretitenti and passed the Maneaba ni Maungatabu on 22 November 2018, and repeals the Foreign Investment Act 1985 and the Protected Industries Ordinance; no repeal of it has been found.

It requires a foreign investor to hold a valid certificate before investing, applies a reserved list, a restricted list, and a prohibited list of economic sectors and business activities to foreign participation, and lets the Minister introduce non-discriminatory incentives for all investors after consulting the responsible sector minister and, where revenue is involved, the Minister responsible for finance; it names no information-technology or data-infrastructure sector specifically, and no provision addresses electricity grid interconnection, water use, or air emissions.

Instruments on record

1 instrument on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Public agreements

What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?

Foreign Investment Act 2018

Enacted, not yet in force

Foreign Investment Act 2018

Applies to both

Section 5 lets the Minister introduce incentives and other support mechanisms for investors after consulting the minister responsible for the relevant economic sector and, where revenue is involved, the minister responsible for finance. Any incentive introduced must be applicable to all investors, local and foreign, equally and in a non-discriminatory manner, though a grant or loan designed or funded specifically for local and I-Kiribati investors is exempted from that requirement.

A foreign investor must not invest in Kiribati without a valid certificate issued by the Registrar of Foreign Investment, and Schedule 1's Reserved List, Schedule 2's Restricted List, and Schedule 3's Prohibited List set out economic sectors and business activities reserved to citizens, open to foreign investment on prescribed conditions, or barred outright.

The Act also binds the Republic not to nationalise or expropriate an investment except by law, in the public interest, for a public purpose, on a non-discriminatory basis and with prompt and full compensation. The Act names no information-technology or data-infrastructure sector specifically among its reserved, restricted, or prohibited lists, and no provision addresses electricity grid interconnection, water use, or air emissions.

The Act was assented to by the Beretitenti and states that it commences on a date the Minister appoints by notice; no commencement notice has been located.

Source: Full text of law