09.01.08
Posted in Double Taxation Agreements, International relations at 11:34 pm by Robert Klien
On August 19, cooperation between Seychelles and Cyprus began with the 1st meeting of the Permanent Cypriot-Seychelles Intergovernmental Commission.
The permanent secretary of the Cyprus Planning Bureau, Andreas Moleskis, led his delegation August 19 until August 22 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It should be noted that Seychelles and Cyprus enjoyed historical ties long before the opening of diplomatic relations in April 1976.
It is important that in 1998 an agreement on long-term economic, scientific, technical and industrial cooperation was signed in 1998 to set a framework and become the 1st step towards formalising the connections between Seychelles and Cyprus. This document provided for the establishment of the Cypriot-Seychelles commission, which will explore new areas of bilateral cooperation through regular consultations.
In June 28, 2006, Seychelles and Cyprus signed a double taxation avoidance agreement.
The meeting held from August 19 until August 22 was aimed at exploiting all opportunities for new partnerships between Seychelles and Cyprus, and it will raise regional and international issues of vital importance to both countries.
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08.10.08
Posted in International Organisations, International relations, Seychelles government at 5:38 pm by Robert Klien
On July 10, 2008, the 8th Session of the Seychelles-Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (SMCBC) ended. As a result, both Governments agreed to support each other and strengthen cooperation in order to boost bilateral relations.
The Seychelles delegation was led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Patrick Pillay, while the Mauritian delegation was represented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Rama Sithanen.
The two countries have agreed that they will cooperate in the following areas:
- Regional Cooperation. Regarding aid for Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, Seychelles and Mauritius have agreed to facilitate a strategic partnership between the two sides by the networks the countries are building, including the EPA with the EU and membership in both COMESA and SADC;
- COMESA Fund. Mauritius invited Seychelles to join the COMESA Fund in order to build a strategic relationship between the two sides, as well as to benefit from regionalisation and globalisation initiatives underway;
- Regional Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence. Seychelles requested the support of Mauritius to set up a University in Seychelles;
- Cooperation in the fisheries sector. Seychelles and Mauritius have agreed to urgently examine the impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations as well as the bilateral negotiations between the EU and the ASEAN countries.
It is also worth mentioning that Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs, Patrick Pillay underscored the fruitful exchange programmes in banking, education, social development, tourism and fisheries between Seychelles and Mauritius.
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07.15.08
Posted in Business and Economy, International relations at 12:15 pm by Robert Klien
On July 9-10, 2008, the 8th Session of the Seychelles-Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (CBC) took place at the Government House, Port Louis, in Mauritius.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Seychelles Patrick Pillay was heading a 4-strong delegation.
The members of the 2 delegations held the meeeting in order to review the cooperation programme and discuss new avenues for future partnership between Seychelles and Mauritius. The issues under discussion were also regional matters sch as the Economic Partnership Agreement, COMESA Fund, Aid for Trade and the Regional Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence – all these are the issues vitallyl important to the both Seychelles and Mauritius.
It is worth noting that the Commission on Bilateral Cooperation was established after the Agreement of Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Seychelles and Mauritius was signed in February 1991.
The CBC takes place in the capital of one of the two countries once in 2 years. The 7th Session of the Seychelles-Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation was held in Seychelles in December 2005.
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07.01.08
Posted in Business and Economy, International relations, Seychelles government at 3:12 pm by Robert Klien
It has been described that Seychelles and Japan signed a grant aid agreement for fisheries on June 24, 2008. The same day, the Japanese ambassador to Seychelles, Shigeo Iwatani, who signed the agreement, paid a visit to President James Michel at State House.
Mr Iwatani discussed with the Seychellois President several issues that will boost the relationship between the Japan and Seychelles.
It is worth noting that President Michel gave feedback on his visit to Japan, which was on May 28-30 when he attended the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad IV).
Michel and Iwatani also discussed another visit by the President to Japan. Mr Iwatani said that they are arranging a date for the visit. This time the visit will be used for talks on bilateral issues.
The discussion by Michel and Iwatani covered the 5-year action plan to identify concrete cooperation projects between Seychelles and Japan.
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06.25.08
Posted in Business and Economy, International relations at 9:32 am by Robert Klien
Yesterday, on June 24, 2008, a grant aid agreement for fisheries was signed between Seychelles and Japan. The agreement was described as “milestone†in the relations of the two countries.
The agreement was signed at Independence House by Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Transport Joel Morgan from Seychelles side and by the Japanese ambassador to Seychelles, Shigeo Iwatani from Japanese side.
The agreement covers R83 million of aid from Japan. The funding will be used for building a new fishing quay at Providence and for improving the Bel Ombre fishing port. This project is in line with the 2017 fisheries strategy, and it is very important in the development of fishing industry in Seychelles.
The Japanese government is financing 5 fisheries projects worth more than R80 million,. It should be noted that Japan has already been supportive of Seychelles’s fishing industry, which had a positive impact on the industry’s development.
According to Mr. Morgan, the fishing industry is the 2nd most important sector for income generation, food security and employment.
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05.24.08
Posted in Diplomatic missions, International relations at 7:35 pm by Robert Klien
New Ambassador of China to Seychelles Wang Weiguo arrived in Seychelles on May 16, 2008.
On May 20, New Ambassador to Seychelles Wang Weiguo presented his credentials to Seychelles President James Alex Michel in Victoria.
Michel welcomed Wang as new ambassador to Seychelles and expressed his satisfaction with the recent development of relations between Seychelles and China that are based on mutual trust and equality. The President thanked China for the assistance and the efforts made by its leaders to promote economic cooperation between Seychelles and China. He also said he awaits that the mutually beneficial cooperation will be developed in the future.
The New Ambassador recalled the development of bilateral relationship in the past years since diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in June 1976. He also said he would do his best to push the relationship between Seychelles and China towards win-win partnership.
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05.18.08
Posted in International relations, Seychelles government at 5:20 pm by Robert Klien
On May 12, 2008, it was announced that a delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Seychelles is going to pay a visit to China. It was also announced that the Seychellois delegation was to be led by deputy speaker Wilby Lucas.
The delegation is paying an official good-will visit to China from May 14 to May 21. The visit was ogranised at the invitation of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China.
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04.04.08
Posted in Business and Economy, International relations, Seychelles IBC, Seychelles companies at 10:28 pm by Robert Klien
Recently China urged the business community of Seychelles to its largest fair.
The Seychellois companies are invited to visit and take part in the 103rd China Import and Export Fair, which is known as the Canton Fair.
The Fair will be held in several phases. The 1st one will take place on April 15-20, 2008, while the 2nd will be held on April 25-30, 2008 in Guangzhou. The 1st session will focus on medicines and health products, industrial products, textiles and garments, while the 2nd will focus on consumer goods and gifts. The Canton Fair will be staged at the centre of the Pearl River Delta and it will manufacture powerhouse and exporting bases.
The Canton Fair is the largest trade fair in China held twice a year – in April and October. It provides with a rich variety of Chinese goods. The international sections of this 103rd Fair will be placed in the Pazhou and Liuhua complexes of China Import and Export.
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03.27.08
Posted in Business and Economy, International Organisations, International relations, Seychelles government at 12:22 pm by Robert Klien
The First Meeting of the Special COMESA Ministerial Sub-committee on Economic Partnership Agreement held on February 10, 2008 in Lusaka, Zambia, was attended by the Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Patrick Pillay. At the meeting, he was accompanied by his Special Adviser, Miss Vivianne Fock-Tave. Director General for Trade in the Ministry of Finance and Trade, Mr Charles Morin, also attended the meeting of COMESA Ministerial Sub-committee.
The Ministerial Sub-committee was established during the COMESA Council of Ministers in November 2007. It consists of Ministers who are responsible for the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) from Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, Djibouti and Zimbabwe – 8 of the 16 countries that form the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) configuration, which are also member countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The Ministerial Sub-committee primarily aims at overseeing the EPA negotiation process in order to ensure the progress in line with set negotiation objectives and agreed guidelines. Therefore the Sub-committee takes account of developments in the process on a regular basis and provides political advice and guidance on any issues contributing to the successful conclusion of the ESA negotiations. It also is worth noting that the Ministerial Sub-committee is a key-role player in working towards narrowing any substantial differences in the region.
At the 1st meeting in Zambia, the Sub-Committee discussed implementing the Interim Agreement and the need to convene a joint COMESA-SADC-EAC (East African Community) Meeting of Ministers responsible for Economic Partnership Agreements. Also, the negotiating structure of the ESA configuration was reviewed at the meeting in order to ensure that the EPA negotiations are both effective and efficient.
Besides the First Meeting of the Special COMESA Ministerial Sub-committee on Economic Partnership Agreement, Minister Pillay participated in the Ministerial Task Force on the COMESA Customs Union held in Lusaka, Zambia, on February 11, 2008.
It is expected that the COMESA Customs Union will be launched in December 2008.
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03.08.08
Posted in International relations at 10:47 am by Robert Klien
On February 15, 2008, the European Commission took the 1st step to sign short stay visa waiver agreements between the European Community and six other countries including Seychelles. The other countries to sign the agreements with the European Commission are the Bahamas, Barbados, Mauritius, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The recommendations to authorise the European Commission to start negotiations will be submitted to the European Council.
Vice-President Franco Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, explained that the negotiations on the visa waiver with Seychelles and the other 5 countries need to be opened when the negotiating directives will be approved by the Council, and the full implementation of the existing legal framework will be available.
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