12.13.11
Posted in Business and Economy, International Organisations, International relations at 4:42 pm by Robert Klien
Seychelles has attended the 1st Forum on China-Africa Scientific and Technological Cooperation that has been recently held in Beijing.
The jurisdiction was represented by the principal secretary in the Department of Industry, Lucy Athanasius, and the director of Industry Policy Analysis and Export Promotion, Barry Assary.
The forum was launched as an initiative of the FOCAC Summit held in Sharm El Sheik-Egypt in November 2009. It also recommended the creation of the China-Africa Science and Technology Partnership Programme (CASTEP), by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, with a view to further enhance cooperation and exchanges in science and technology between China and Africa.
At the opening of the forum, Seychelles’ Ambassador in China, Philippe Le Gall, expressed his satisfaction at Seychelles’ participation at high level and described the forum as an interactive platform to get more familiar with the recent progress made by China in science and technology as well as to interact with government officials, researchers, scientists, and industry leaders.
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12.09.11
Posted in Seychelles government, Seychelles legislation at 4:31 pm by Robert Klien
President James Michel has announced that a council which will have the function of advising government on the best economic policy for sustainable national growth and development has been established. The new body is called the National Economic Council. It will hold regularly meetings to discuss matters raised by its members, President James Michel or referred to it by the government of Seychelles.
The new council may commission and analyze data and information that may be required to advise government on suitable economic strategies and to detect whether existing national programmes meet strategic economic objectives.
When announcing the creation of the new body, the President noted that the world economy is becoming increasingly fragile, and therefore it is important to ensure that Seychelles’ national development strategy was founded on a thorough understanding of the economic environment and the dynamics of the emerging forces shaping the future of the global economy. He said: “Continued economic success depends on the cooperation of all stakeholders. Working for the benefit of Seychelles is paramount in every decision-making process. The National Economic Council will serve as a hub for information, debate and advice, in the process of developing sound national economic policy”.
The National Economic Council will be chaired by the President. The Vice-President and Minister responsible for Finance, Danny Faure, will be its vice-chair. The other members of the council will be Minister for Home Affairs, Environment, Transport and Energy, Joel Morgan; Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles, Pierre Laporte; CEO of the Seychelles International Business Authority, Steve Fanny; CEO of the Seychelles Savings Bank, Michael Benstrong; CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Alain St Ange; principal statistician, National Bureau of Statistics, Michel Mellie; and others.
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12.05.11
Posted in Business and Economy, Financial Services, Offshore Banking, Seychelles banking at 4:10 pm by Robert Klien
At the 17th anniversary lecture of the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), Seychelles has been praised as having the potential to become the financial technology hub for African countries.
The event’s guest speaker, Arun Jain, chairman and chief executive of Polaris Financial Technology Ltd., a leading global financial technology company, said: “Being an archipelago in the African continent with a small population, Seychelles has the natural advantage for creating a niche for itself in the financial technology space. It has the potential to become the Financial Technology Hub for African countries and extend its expertise to neighbouring countries and position itself as a global financial technology stronghold. The late adoption of automation will be a boon for Seychelles since they will get the most advanced technology unlike some developed countries which still run on legacy systems.”
Other guests at the event were Seychelles’ President James Michel, the Governor of CBS Pierre Laporte, and the chairman of the Seychelles Bankers Association Michael Benstrong, who is also the managing director of the Seychelles Savings Bank.
Mr Jain addressed ministers, foreign dignitaries, bureaucrats, bankers, businessmen and academicians speaking on the theme of “Technological Innovations Driving Financial Services”.
He stressed the role of
- Smarter Identity – Single Identity for every citizen which could be used for
(a) banking transactions,
(b) social commerce transactions,
(c) government to citizen transactions;
- Smarter Infrastructure – Shared Financial Technology Infrastructure where all banks invest as shareholders and pay-per-use to drive efficiency.
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12.01.11
Posted in Business and Economy, Financial Services, Foreign investments, International relations, SIBA at 3:38 pm by Robert Klien
A Seychelles’ delegation has attended a 2-day conference. The event was held in Prague on November 10-11, 2011.
The event was organized by the SIC Corporation based in the Czech Republic with the support of the Seychelles Investment Board (SIB). The conference targeted mainly Russian investors interested in investing.
The delegation was led by Investment, Natural Resources and Industry Minister Peter Sinon. Also, there were members of the delegation from the SIB, the Central Bank of Seychelles, the Seychelles International Business Authority (SIBA), and several domestic private financial services sector companies.
This conference aimed to tell investors about various emerging opportunities and possibilities for investment in Seychelles. Also, the event was used as an occasion to formally nominate the partners of SIC Corporation as candidates for the Trade and Investment Representatives’ of Seychelles in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent (CIS) countries.
In his opening speech, Sinon emphasized that Seychelles is a well-positioned jurisdiction and that there is an increase in trade and investment potentials between Africa and the growing emerging markets of the Far East. He stressed that the jurisdiction is a politically stable, open, welcoming, multi-cultural and idyllic destination in the middle of the Indian Ocean that is a potential powerful platform for offering financial solutions and related services.
Seychelles has maintained a good relationship with Russia and the CIS countries. Investment from this part of the world has significantly contributed to the figures for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Seychelles.
It should be noted that, in accordance with the data revealed by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Russian Federation is the largest outward investing emerging economy surpassed only by Hong Kong. Russia stands ahead of Brazil, China and India. This is the motivation for trying to get to know specific and interested investors in what Seychelles has to offer.
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11.22.11
Posted in Double Taxation Agreements, International relations, Seychelles government, Seychelles legislation at 2:21 pm by Robert Klien
An agreement aimed at avoiding double taxation and preventing fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income has been signed between Seychelles and Sri Lanka.
The double tax treaty was signed in Colombo by the commissioner general of Sri Lanka, K.M.S. Kandegedara and Jennifer Morel from the Seychelles Revenue Commission.
It should be reminded that communications on double tax avoidance were initiated in May 2008 by Seychelles authorities and acknowledged in July 2008 by Sri Lanka. The two countries agreed to have the 1st round of negotiation in Seychelles on December 15-19, 2008 whereby agreement was reached on all articles. So, the document was initialed on December 19, 2008.
When ratified by both parties, the signing of this DTA brings Seychelles’ double taxation agreement number to a total of 17.
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10.26.11
Posted in Business and Economy, Foreign investments at 1:36 pm by Robert Klien
The Seychelles Investment Board (SIB) aimed to stimulate economic development, to expand and escalate growth through effective investment promotion plans acknowledges that the Seychelles business environment should be further enhanced with a view to facilitate processes for businesses to go through during the business cycle.
The Board suggests that the improvement process will require dialogues and participation of both the private and public sectors. It foresees that a complete and effective transformation of the business environment will take a few months of dedicated hard work and cohesive approach. SIB is convinced that support structures should be put in place to ensure that the process not only makes it easy for the business community but will also allow government institutions to continuously monitor the business processes as well as maintain records on business development.
The above-mentioned commitment was reinforced during the Seychelles Investment forum held on July 20-21, 2011.
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10.22.11
Posted in Tourism industry at 1:36 pm by Robert Klien
On October 17, key tourism operators came together to discuss ways to increase numbers of visitor arrivals from South Africa.
The meeting was conducted by the general sales agent (GSA) of Air Seychelles in South Africa, Deon Fremantle, who was accompanied by some top tour operators that sell Seychelles as a tourist destination. The event was attended by the chairman of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association (SHTA), Louis d’Offay.
The participants were informed that while an average 7 000 South African visitors came to Seychelles in 2010, Mauritius, the jurisdiction’s main competitor, received more than 81 000 tourists. The 2011 arrival figures to date compared to 2010 reflect a stagnation, however, in Mauritius this was up by 10%.
As to other competitors, Mozambique, Zanzibar, the Maldives and Thailand are offering similar products at significantly lower prices. Around 100 000 South Africans travel to Thailand a year. Visitor number to Maldives is just a few thousand, but it is growing by 35% since 2010.
Mr D’Offay said that it is necessary to clarify certain matters and learn more about the specificities of the South African market.
The South African tour operators present said that it is far easier to sell other countries, especially Mauritius and the Maldives. According to them, not only are hotels more expensive in Seychelles, but even rates of Air Seychelles are prohibitive. It costs more to fly from Johannesburg to Seychelles, than to the Maldives, much further away.
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10.18.11
Posted in Business and Economy, International Organisations, Seychelles government at 2:59 pm by Robert Klien
On October 17, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by its head to Seychelles, Jean Le Dem, visited President James Michel to appraise him on how they find the economic reform going. Also, Vice-President Danny Faure, who is also the Minister for Finance, Central Bank Governor Pierre Laporte and principal secretary for Finance and Trade Ahmed Afif were present during the meeting.
Mr Le Dem said that the programme’s performance was good and the jurisdiction has met all the quantitative criteria as at the end of June 2011. He said that the Fund will next review the structural reform programme and see where it is necessary to accelerate the programme. Also, it will discuss Seychelles Budget 2012 including the situation with Air Seychelles.
Mr Le Dem noted: “We also discussed the inflation issue which has risen a little to 3.3% in September and the chances for price increases but also how this can be mitigated through the social welfare agency”. He stated that the reforms have stabilised the economy of the offshore jurisdiction as well as stressed that it is needed to ensure the private sector continues to grow in order to support the economy.
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10.02.11
Posted in International Organisations, International relations, Seychelles government at 2:52 pm by Robert Klien
Seychelles and Guernsey are to sign a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
Guernsey has announced that it will conclude 6 bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) negotiated with members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in line with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) priority of working closely on tax issues with developing countries. The tax treaty between Guernsey will be signed. Also, Guernsey is to sign the agreements on sharing tax information with Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zambia.
Ron van der Merwe, Chair of the Tax Agreements Working Group of the SADC, said: “The multi-party TIEA negotiations between 6 SADC member states and Guernsey is considered to be a major step forward in creating a basis for exchange of information for SADC members. This was a first opportunity for SADC and it is hoped that it will be the start of an ongoing programme in the negotiation of TIEAs by member states.”
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09.24.11
Posted in International Organisations at 12:39 pm by Robert Klien
Dr Nasri Abu Jaish, new Palestinian ambassador to Seychelles, presented his credentials to President James Michel at State House on September 20.
The Palestinian diplomat is the 4th Palestinian ambassador to be accredited to Seychelles since Seychelles and Palestine established diplomatic relations in 1980.
Dr Jaish is based in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam.
Dr Jaish said that the two countries have a long-standing and friendly relationship, and he hopes to build on this. He noted: “I hope to promote and strengthen this friendly relation between Palestine and Seychelles, between the Palestinian people and the people of Seychelles in many sectors like culture, tourism and other areas to be explored by the two countries.”
Dr Jaish discussed several actual issues with President Michel and Vice-President Danny Faure.
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