President James Michel met with Secretary General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, yesterday afternoon  at State House. The Secretary General is on an official visit to Seychelles and a special guest at the National Day celebrations.

President Michel thanked the UNCTAD for the support it has extended to Seychelles during its economic reforms, and in particular the Secretary General's work to assist Small Island Developing States in making their case for.

" We thank you for championing the voices of Small Islands Developing States, which are often disadvantaged within the international trading system due to their size....We look forward to working with you to develop the blue economy concept for sustainable development which would benefit small island states, like Seychelles, oceanic states and coastal countries," said President Michel.

The President discussed various areas of possible cooperation with UNCTAD, including eco-tourism, as well as reviewing the work it had conducted with the Fair Trade Commission in Seychelles. The Secretary General said that they were satisfied with the work implemented to ensure that consumer rights are protected, to help about bringing competition in business, and that UNCTAD  will keep supporting this 'modern framework for a modern economy.'

"The model being used in Seychelles is one of the most outstanding framework for market mechanism.... the full guarantee of fair and free trade, and the future work we hope to do is investment policy, to moderns rules and regulates to make Seychelles more attractive for foreign investment...   We will work together to foster the visibility of the small island developing states... so that we can develop some form of framework to deal in a differential manner with the cases of small island states in the global trade framework, "said Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi.

Secretary General  added that  UNCTAD is very appreciative of the past work and reforms that the Government of Seychelles has undertaken since the period of 2008.

"The achievements since those difficult days have been really testimonial to the kind of efforts of the Seychelles to reform the whole economy. We are particularly pleased to see that the reforms have been trying put in the discipline into the market mechanism and fiscal balance... in opening up the economy for full competition and also to integrate the Seychelles economy with the global economy ....We are sure of the commitment of the President, the Government and the people of Seychelles to the kind of reform process, and to maintain the kind of good governance of the economy, to be able to attract new investment to Seychelles, " said Dr.Panitchpakdi following the meeting.

 Editor's Note

•The meeting was attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, and the President's Diplomatic Advisor, Ambassador Callixte D'Offay, as well as the Head of the Competition Law and Consumer Policies Branch of UNCTAD's Division on International Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities, Mr. Hassan Qaqaya,.

•For more information on UNCTAD see http://unctad.org