New Portuguese ambassador hails Seychelles’ economic growth and political stability |11 March 2015

José Augusto Duarte has been accredited as the new ambassador of Portugal to Seychelles.

He presented his credentials to President James Michel yesterday at State House.

President Michel congratulated the new ambassador and said that Seychelles is looking forward to forging stronger ties between the two countries.

During their meeting they discussed issues of common interest and areas of possible cooperation such as business and investment, training in different fields, the Blue Economy, tourism, and renewable energy, among others.

After the accreditation ceremony Ambassador Duarte told the national media that his talks with the President centred on cooperation of mutual interest and that he also had greetings of best wishes for President Michel and the people of Seychelles from the Portuguese authorities.

He said that Portugal respects and wishes to encourage Seychelles in view of its good stability as a state.

“We are very impressed with the determination of Seychelles in what it has done for security in the region, through mediation process in Madagascar, through the fight against piracy and maritime security. This deserves our respect and encouragement,” he said.

He said Portugal was also impressed with the figures related to education, political stability, economic growth, low employment rate, the corruption perception index, etc.

“So all these make Seychelles more competitive, more attractive and not just a beautiful archipelago in the middle of the ocean. This really makes us really move forward…it’s the quality of its government and the quality of its people,” said Ambassador Duarte.

He also commented on the good governance that exists in the country and the quality of its people.

The ambassador also said it’s time to see if both countries can increase their relations for mutual benefit. He said that Portugal has potential investors that can be attracted to invest here and develop the local economy more if they are aware of the competitiveness of the Seychelles economy.
“So I think it can be mutually beneficial,” he said.

He also spoke about the concept of the blue economy and how important it is for the Seychelles, the experience his country has in this aspect and work that is being done in the Portuguese-speaking community relating to it.

The Portuguese ambassador also noted that Portugal is back on a growth period after formally exiting the eurozone bail-out last year.

Ambassador Duarte, who is based in Maputo, Mozambique, also called on Vice-President Danny Faure yesterday.

He will pay a courtesy call on the deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Andre Pool, today.

Also present at the accreditation visit at State House were the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport Joel Morgan and the President’s diplomatic advisor Ambassador Callixte D’Offay.