President James Michel visited several small businesses in the districts of Anse Aux Pins and Au Cap today, which forms part of a series of visits to various communities and businesses this year.
President Michel met with the owner of a daycare centre, a barber, a hairdresser, a steel fixer, three bakery owners, a tailor, the owner of a workshop for car bodywork, and the owner of self-catering tourism apartments. He also visited the Craft Village at the Domaine de Val de Pres where he met with the craft shop owners.
Following his visit, the President said that several entrepreneurs told him that their business were going well and that they had a lot of demand for their products and services. They told him wished to grow their businesses and that they need more space for their work but that they faced hurdles in trying to access loans at local banks. He noted that the current conditions for obtaining credit at the banks make it difficult for small business owners to access financing for their projects.
“Most of the businesses want to expand, they want a larger working area to do their business… There are certain credit facilities which we need to consider closely. The Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation has plans for the future of microcredit…we now need to put them into action…. One of the constraints that small business owners experience is the access to affordable credit…. So we will work to ensure the right conditions are created so that more Seychellois businesses can flourish,” said the President.
The President said that these visits are important to him as he is able to visit all Seychellois regardless of their political background.
“I am the President of all Seychellois, I go everywhere and meet with all the people, irrespective of their political opinions, because what is important to me is the Seychellois people, as a nation, are able to create wealth for the country. So as much as I can help all Seychellois who want to develop and create wealth and make their country progress, I will do it and encourage it,” he said.
Some artists and artisans at the Craft village had spoken to the President about their difficulty with competing with sellers of imported craft products. The President said that while Seychelles has an open economy and is a member of the World Trade Organisation, the Government will be proposing mechanisms to enable Seychellois artisans to be able to better compete with the sale of imported goods, by for example enabling them to obtain raw materials at cheaper prices for the creation of their craft work.
The President also said that the increase in small business is good for the economy and that with the positive growth in the economy, the Government is planning to introduce a new progressive income tax structure, next year.
“We will push for the introduction of a new tax structure so that those who are earning less, will pay less tax and those who are earning more, will pay a bit more tax, so that there is a better equilibrium and also reduce the gap between the lower income people and the higher income people… to make sure that everybody benefits by the creation of wealth.”
President James Michel was accompanied on the visit by the Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation, Mr. Michael Benstrong, the Principal Secretary for Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation, Mrs. Marise Berlouis, the Member of the National Assembly for Anse Aux Pins, the Hon. Meggy Marie, the District Administrator for Anse Aux Pins, Ms. Sybylla Mederick, the Member of the National Assembly for Au Cap, the Hon. Murielle Marie, and the District Administrator for Au Cap, Ms. Doris Esther as well as senior officials in the Office of the President.