About Seychelles offshore companies, offshore jurisdiction, economy, taxation, banking and international affairs.
On June 1, 2009, a notice was issued by by the Seychelles International Business Authority.
In the notice, the SIBA drew attention of the public to the fact that a company entitled Nexins Inc that is registered and/or licensed by SIBA under the International Business Companies Act, 1994 is non-existent.
So, members of the public were strongly advised by the Authority to be extremely cautious when dealing with Nexins Inc.
This year, a notice was issued by the Seychelles International Business Authority.
In the notice, the SIBA drew attention to the website nastla .com as well as to the fact that what is being advertised on this website is not true. The Authority claimed that neither Nastla Investments nor Nastla Inc are licensed, authorised or registered by the SIBA.
Members of the public were strongly advised by the Authority to be extremely cautious when dealing with Nastla Investments and Nastla Inc.
The President of Seychelles James Michel has recently attended the 13th summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls.
The summit was attended by 13 heads of state. The 13 Comesa Summit was entitled “Consolidating Regional President MichelIntegration through Value Addition, Trade and Food Security” started on June 8, 2009.
The summit has attracted more than 1 000 delegates from the Comesa countries as well as from the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union, the Commonwealth, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
According to President Michel, “The recent world crisis brings many challenges, but also opens up certain opportunities for developing countries. Through regional groupings such as Comesa, small islands such as Seychelles can also ensure that regional integration initiatives do not ignore key vulnerabilities and specificities”.
It has recently been discussed that 3 Somali pirates were arrested in the Indian Ocean off the Seychelles.
It has recently been announced that the European Union is going to move its anti-piracy operations further south to the Seychelles region.
Also, the EU is to keep up its presence in the Indian Ocean for as long as needed – as long as pirate activity is present in the region. During recent talks held in Brussels between Environment, Natural Resources and Transport Minister Joel Morgan and Javier Solana, the EU’s high representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the above-mentioned intention of the EU was announced.
It is worth noting that Morgan attended the 1st meeting of fisheries ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and during that stressed the serious threat posed by acts of piracy to the economy of Seychelles. The meeting with Mr Solana in the presence of Seychelles’ ambassador to the EU Barry Faure and principal secretary for natural resources and transport Veronique Herminie, was held on June 4.
On May 28, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia visited President James Michel at State House. The Prince and the President held talks in the presence of Nouvobanq managing director Ahmed Saeed and Minister for National Development Jacquelin Dugasse.
It should be noted that Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was talking about investing in the tourism industry in Seychelles. He told the media that the jurisdiction to a great extent depends on tourism, and that he would be visiting shortly the Four Seasons. He also mentioned the Raffles hotel on Praslin to be inaugurated in the end of next year as it is important for economic and tourism development.
Prince Alwaleed told President Michel that he is looking forward to having more projects in tourism in the jurisdiction.
Saudi Arabian delegation arrived to Seychelles from Mauritius and went home after a few hours.
Yesterday it was reported that a Seychelles coast guard boat arrested 3 suspected pirates. The suspects were grabbed in the Indian Ocean off the Seychelles.
According to a French defense ministry spokesman Christophe Prazuck, the 3 suspected pirates had previously been detained and interrogated by sailors on the French warship Nivose that in April delivered 11 suspected pirates to Kenya. Prazuck said that the pirates were on a 10-meter fishing boat loaded with 13 barrels of fuel, water and food. There were no weapons on the vessel. Larger vessels are often used by pirates as resupply ships.
Currently, Somali pirates are holding 17 ships and around 300 crew, including the Greek-owned cargo ship Ariana with a Ukrainian crew, hijacked on May 2.
Seychelles has been listed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) among 40 countries on its “white list”. The white list includes such countries as the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany and New Zealand. Accordingly, Seychelles has been listed among many developed countries
Steve Fanny, chief executive of the Seychelles International Business Authority, said that this fact means that Seychelles is not on the OECD’s black or grey list. Fanny said that Seychelles used to have substantially imposed internationally agreed tax standards in a transparent manner and that this offshore jurisdiction has made every effort to know its customers in order to avoid the risk of providing havens for criminals.
It is worth noting that since April 2 the international media have been reporting on the disappointment of countries placed on the OECD’s grey or black list despite years of striving to get into the white list.
President James Michel has recently repeated his call for Seychellois to be innovative and develop as entrepreneurs because this is a good way to make for a living and to create employment. President Michel expressed his confidence that in future this will be an important sector in the economy of Seychelles.
This was said in the speech the President held in his monthly television programme entitled En Moman Avek Prezidan. The theme of this progremme’s interview was employment. He noted that creating jobs is not easy, and employment comes through investment or through the support to businesses in the private sector.
To urge entrepreneurial development, the President announced a doubling of funds of the Small Credit Agency – from R10 million to R20 million and an increase in the maximum amount that can be borrowed by from R200 000 to R300 000. The economic programme is aimed to encourage people to start their own businesses.
The President suggests that small businesses, especially those Seychellois-owned ones, are of a special importance.
On March 11, Seychelois President James Michel and leader of government business Marie-Louise Potter discussed key issues that affect the people. They also repeatedly called for unity at this difficult time.
After the 1st high-level forum that Mr Michel proposed between himself, the leader of government business and the leader of the opposition Wavel Ramkalawan, both leaders were talking to the media at State House.
Both Michel and Potter expressed regret that Wavel Ramkalawan had missed this opportunity and declined the offer to come and discuss issues of national importance. However, Michel noted that the leaders of opoposition is still welcome to join the discussions that are important for helping Seychelles to face the challenges presented to by the global economic crisis.
In order to address key issues for Seychelles, the leaders are expected to meet as often as possible.
A Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) marketing team is currently at the ITB trade show in Berlin, Germany. Before the show, the team held successful meetings and a press conference with the French trade in Paris.
The delegation led by new marketing director for tourism Alain St Ange included the Paris-based regional manager Bernadette Willemin.
St Ange said that the delegation was satisfied with the meetings and is expecting the same enthusiasm from other markets to be visied on this European tour. According to him, the meetings were the ideal opportunity for the French partners to get updated information on the new marketing strategy of the Seychelles as well as on the recent changes at the STB. St Ange believed that the interaction will help the Seychelles Tourism Board to consolidate the jurisdiction’s tourism industry.
Also, St Ange and his delegation held a meeting with Seychelles’ ambassador in Paris, Claude Morel. Later together with Louis D’Offay, chairman of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association, they had a private meeting with French Minister Rama Yade at her offices at the Quai d’Orsay. This was a good opportunity to hear the Minister’s impressions of her recent visit to the Seychelles.