President Danny Faure received the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Republic of Seychelles, H.E. Mrs Marjaana Sall, at State House today. Ambassador Sall was accompanied by the Ambassador of the Republic of France to Seychelles, Mr Lionel Majesté-Larrouy, and the British High Commissioner to Seychelles, Ms Caron Röhsler.
On behalf of Seychelles’ government, the President thanked Ambassador Sall and her delegation for the support and assistance provided by the European Union over the years. He expressed his wish to bring the relations between Seychelles and EU to new heights through new cooperation in building strong institutions in Seychelles for the betterment of the Seychellois people.
“Based on the traditions that we have, I can confidently say that we have a strong relationship with the European Union and that we need to continuously cement and develop this relationship. Above all, we are building a solid partnership and my wish is to bring it to another level. I seek to work with the European Union on building strong institutions here in Seychelles, institutions that will be able to encapsulate the spirit of the Seychellois so that we don’t erode the social aspects and destroy the environment. I believe that a small country like Seychelles has huge potential for economic growth whilst supporting the social dimension that we have been assuming over the last forty years. But none of this would be sustainable if we don’t have strong institutions to consolidate what is highly important today – civil liberty for our citizen’s needs to be protected, the rules of law, human rights, greater space for the press, and opening up the system to the public, all of which are important,” said President Faure.
During the meeting, President Faure and Ambassador Sall discussed issues of common interest and value to both Seychelles and the European Union such as capacity building of the different institutions in Seychelles, climate change, maritime security, trade and investment, and fisheries among others. They also considered avenues to broaden cooperation and expressed mutual support at an international level to face the many global challenges.
Ambassador Sall told the national media that during her official visit to Seychelles she will also be meeting with key Ministers to discuss the broad partnership between the European Union and Seychelles further. In relation to maritime security, she said that the regional Maritime Security Program (MASE) has approved for Seychelles to host the Regional Coordination Operational Centre, a project that she said will be funded by the EU once it is established.
“We are very involved in supporting the climate change related activities here in Seychelles. Tomorrow I will be on La Digue for the launch of one of the projects there related to the mitigation of climate change. There will also be a new programme on the economic partnership agreement, a sum of €10m with the aim of supporting Seychelles’ capacity to benefit from its economy. This could be in the fisheries or tourism sectors, small and medium sized businesses, and enhancing the business environment. We also have the biggest partnership in the region with Seychelles in fisheries, and in 10 days’ time, our Director General from the Maritime Unit in Brussels will be visiting Seychelles to see how to enhance partnership in this sector as well as the Blue Economy,” said Ambassador Sall.
Also present at the meeting was the Secretary of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Barry Faure, Diplomatic Advisor to the President, Ambassador Callixte D’offay, and Director General for Development and Regional Integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kenneth Racombo.