June 21 2011 -- President James Michel met with the President of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete, following the National Day celebrations on Saturday evening.

President Michel said that it is was great pleasure to welcome President Kikwete and Mrs. Kikwete to Seychelles as guests of honour of the Seychelles National Day.

During their tete-a-tete, the two leaders discussed regional and bilateral cooperation.

"Your visit offer us an opportunity to re-launch a dynamic bilateral relationship based on our shared history and our mutual understanding as neighboring states," said President Michel during the meeting.

President Michel said that he believes that Seychelles and Tanzania can work together to improve  mutual security.

"Our militaries can work very effectively together.  Piracy is the new threat that is challenging all of us.  We must work together to ensure that more African states have the resources to patrol their own waters, and not rely only on external partners. By working together we can share best practices.  We can also share the burden.  Pirates are threatening the way of life of coastal states.  We can work together to develop systems of prosecution that assist each other. "

President Michel also said that it is important to improve direct trade and transport links between Seychelles and Tanzania in order to develop new opportunities for cooperation.

"Seychelles and Tanzania can cooperate effectively in Tourism and Fisheries as these are key sectors of the economy of both states. We can look into the possibility of having exchanges between the two parties where these sectors are concerned."

Following the meeting, President Kikwete told Seychelles and Tanzanian media that he had agreed to 'revive vibrant cooperation' between the two countries.

He said that Seychelles has strengths in tourism and fisheries which Tanzania has not tapped to its maximum potential, and could learn from Seychelles.

President Kikwete said that direct food imports from Tanzania to Seychelles could be developed, in order to avoid cost of importations of Tanzanian food via routes of other countries.