Minister Benstrong visits SIB |04 March 2015

As part of his familiarisation visits to organisations that fall under his ministry, Michael Benstrong, the Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation, recently visited the Seychelles Investment Board (SIB) at the Caravelle House.

He was accompanied by his principal secretary Marise Berlouis and advisor Dr Steve Fanny.
The SIB was set up in July 2004 as a one-stop window for domestic and foreign investors. The board has a young professional team of 14 staff dedicated to promoting investment opportunities in Seychelles and facilitating the processes of setting up a business in Seychelles -- from scoping to implementation stages.

Previously under the Ministry of Finance, the SIB now falls under the newly created Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation.

After visiting the various units of the SIB, Minister Benstrong said he was quite impressed and amazed.
“With such a small team, SIB’s output has been quite big. A lot has been done to promote investments in Seychelles and we are will continuing to work on these achievements. SIB plays a key role within my ministry in terms of helping in implementing strategies and policies regarding investments within the country and from abroad. My ministry is working in getting an area where it will become a one-stop shop for all investors and SIB will continue to reinforce and educate the population on how to become investors and entrepreneurs,” Minister Benstrong said.

Talking about the various incentives for businesses, the minister said: “Already we have a lot of incentives; the issue is that some members of the business community are not aware of them. My ministry will work very closely with SIB to tackle this gap,” he said.

Rupert Simeon, chief executive of SIB, described the visit of the minister as a boost to the morale of his team.

“Yes we are a small team but we believe in quality work. We all try our best to help each other in our work. Training is given to all staff. SIB exists since 2004 and we are looking forward to working with the new ministry. Already we can see ways how various departments can be consolidated to better serve our clients,” Mr Simeon said.

The vision of SIB is to make Seychelles the investment hub in the region and in order to achieve this, SIB reckons that the organisation must be committed to offering first class services and, more importantly, take a cohesive and well-coordinated approach with key stakeholders and economic movers to ensure that the vision is met.

SIB has been doing various promotional activities to attract foreign and local investments and is present on all social media platforms.

It is to note that SIB does not approve projects for investors, its main role is to stimulate the development, expansion and growth of the economy by promoting Seychelles as an international investment, business and service centre. It acts as an intermediary between the public and private sector in order to formulate proposals to the government aimed at improving the business environment.