Seychelles-Mauritius extended continental shelf |06 May 2015

Delegations prepare for fourth joint commissioners meeting

Delegates from Mauritius and Seychelles are holding the 10th meeting of the Seychelles-Mauritius extended continental shelf (ECS) in preparation for the fourth joint commissioners meeting to take place on Friday.

The meeting was launched officially yesterday at the Petro Seychelles conference room at Seypec House, New Port by the principal secretary for land use and housing Joseph Francois.

The Ministry of Land Use and Housing (MLUH) is the outgoing agency for the project.  Friday’s meeting will also take place at the same venue.

The last meeting was held in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius from September 16-18 last year and it was co-chaired by ambassador Jadish Koonjul of the Regional Integration and International Trade of the Mauritius Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Koonjul was again present yesterday to lead the Mauritian delegation.

Raymond Chang Tave, co-chair of the technical committee and special advisor to the Minister of Land Use and Housing, was also present at yesterday’s meeting.

 He led the Seychelles delegation at the Mauritius meeting.

Also present at yesterday’s meeting were officials of relevant government ministries and departments.

Topics discussed include follow-ups of the previous meeting, development of a strategic plan for the joint management of the area as well as preparations for the first ministerial meeting.

It follows the two treaties Seychelles and Mauritius signed in 2012 to share the management and administration of the continental shelf of the Mascarene Plateau to which both countries have joint jurisdiction over an area of 396,000 square kilometres.

Mr François said Seychelles and Mauritius have seen an all-round growth of relations with progress at various levels and across a broad spectrum of areas and he described the current state of bilateral relations as more intensive with exchanges, deeper cooperation and broader converging interest.

He said on the political side the two nations have seen more frequent high level exchanges including bilateral visits, as well as interaction in multilateral forums such as the Oasis and climate change forum.

“Seychelles views its relation with Mauritius from a strategic plan. And I reaffirm our commitment to build comprehensive cooperative partnership featuring equality, mutual benefit and common development within our region,” said Mr François.

He said it is in this spirit of promoting mutual respect, mutual trust and expand common ground that the two technical committees have met nine times already to discuss and share experiences on how to best manage the joint extended continental shelf between the two countries or what is referred to as the Mascarene Plateau Region.

He added that this has achieved state-to-state cooperation and will no doubt achieve win-win results which will benefit the people of both sides and contribute to a harmonious region and peaceful common development.

Ambassador Koonjul of Mauritius described the project as something that we and the coming generations will be proud of. He also said his country will continue to strengthen and build upon the existed relations between Seychelles and Mauritius.

This relationship, Mr Koonjul said, should not be restricted to the two Indian Ocean island countries but should be reflected in international for a with international partners.

“We need to be speaking with one voice, we need to be doing things together and we need to be seen supporting the same ideas, the same vision. That I think is very important,” said ambassador Koonjul.