Seychelles and Brussels’ chambers of commerce sign cooperation accord |21 January 2015

A cooperation agreement was officially signed between the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Brussels Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BECI) yesterday at the SCCI head quarters.

The accord was signed by SCCI chairman Marco Francis and the honorary consul general of Seychelles to Belgium, Philippe De Baets, in the presence of the designated ambassador for Belgium, Selby Pillay.

“Brussels is the capital city of Europe and the BECI has 35,000 members from all types of businesses. The BECI is a non-profit organisation operating with a yearly budget of 6 million euros and 40 permanent staff and receives its fund from its membership, paid activities and from companies who are in exporting.
We have a huge number of lobbying firms and with this agreement the SCCI will have access to this global network. BECI will also try to set a programme where the SCCI will learn more on how to function more effectively,” said Mr De Baets.

He added that Europe has been going through crisis and with this agreement more people from Brussels might be interested in investing in Seychelles and vice versa.

Mr Francis noted that this agreement is being finalised after more than a year of work.

“Now that we are part of the World Trade Organisation, our partners need to look at how to grow globally. We will have access to a big market where we can distribute our niche products. SCCI will also plan to organise a group of businessmen to travel to Brussels to market our services and products. As businessmen, we are the best advisors on the ground and we will be able to help one another. I highly recommend all the partners in business to seize this chance and make the most of it,” said Mr Francis.

Currently, the SCCI groups 70% of businesses in Seychelles.
The representative from BECI will be coming to Seychelles for a working visit at the end of this year.