President James Michel held talks with several organizations and governments in the margins of the UN Conference on SIDS in Samoa this week, including FAO, UNECA, Zanzibar and France.

FAO

During his meeting with the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisaton (FAO), José Graziano Da Silva, President Michel thanked FAO for its support for building resilience and capacity building in Seychelles and other SIDS.

He noted that SIDS have their own specificities and vulnerabilities, and that for this reason Seychelles is supporting the introduction of a Vulnerability Index within in the UN system.

Additionally, Mr Michel spoke with Mr Da Silva about the expertise needed for the development of the Blue Economy, research in particular in areas such as sustainable development of fisheries and blue growth initiatives.

Mr Da Silva said that the FAO would gladly support Seychelles in these areas and that the organization is improving its expertise in ocean resources.

He added that as the oceans will provide food for the future, this is a priority area for the FAO.

UNECA

President Michel met with the UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Dr Carlos Lopes.

Dr Lopes expressed his support to Seychelles for all its work to promote the concept of the Blue Economy and added that UNECA had also given this priority within the work it did with the African Union. Dr Lopes noted that Seychelles is providing leadership in this area and President Michel thanked UNECA for its support and commended its work to drive the economic transformation of Africa.

Zanzibar

President James Michel held talks with the President of Zanzibar, in the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein.

President Michel said that the Seychelles and Zanzibar should nurture relations between islands of the Indian Ocean, given their proximity and similarities.

He added that Zanzibar is a key part of the Western Indian Ocean Coastal Challenge which is being launched in Samoa, and that this project will bring even more opportunities through mobilisation of economic potential of the Blue Economy.

The two leaders also spoke about the Vanilla Islands tourism project aimed at promoting the islands of the Indian Ocean, through joint marketing strategies. President Shein said that Zanzibar is keen to have exchanges in the tourism sector and pursue the partnership opportunities of the Vanilla Islands concept.

France

President Michel met with the French Secretary of State for Development and La Francophonie in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Annick Girardin.

Secretary of State Girardin said that Seychelles is an important partner to France, and that the French government is ready to listen to Seychelles’ needs ahead of the 2015 UN Climate talks in Paris.

The President said that the world community needs to reach an agreement as soon as possible and that the New York Climate Summit, organized by the UN Secretary General later this month, should give further impetus for concrete results, which will then bring solutions to the Paris meeting in 2015.

President Michel noted that during his discussions with French President Francois Hollande at the COI Summit in Comoros recently, they had spoken about the need to increase cooperation on the Blue Economy.

Secretary of State Girardin concurred with the President and added that France, and with it the European Union, needs to develop a strong maritime strategy for a Blue Economy for Europe as well.

Editor's Note

-Pictured is a meeting with the President of Zanzibar