SIB presents investment, trade opportunities in Seychelles to foreign investors |17 September 2019
A partial view of the Business Expo
Foreign investors, mostly Japanese present at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development which took place between August 28 and 30, 2019 in Yokohama, Japan, have learnt more about existing investment and trade opportunities in Seychelles.
This was through a presentation that the chief executive of the Seychelles Investment Board (SIB) Cindy Vidot delivered during the Business Forum organised as a side event of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad 7).
Ms Vidot said the interest shown in Seychelles was quite good and the Japanese visitors to the event are very much aware of Seychelles as a tourism/vacation destination.
Aside from the Business Forum, Seychelles like many other African countries represented at the conference also had a stand at the Africa Lounge in the Business Expo.
“On average we met approximately 25 potential investors who have showed interest and presented opportunities for follow up,” said Ms Vidot.
She added that the Japanese market has strong potential for trade with Seychelles considering already existing ties with strong Japanese brands/products on the market already.
“Due to the knowledge of Seychelles by the Japanese I believe it is not a difficult market to tap into and grow investment opportunities. As a next step identification of appropriate target sectors for the market is to be made and promotion efforts designed and activated in line. A key example is the soon to be launched aquaculture sector. Other sectors of investment opportunities identified and discussed at the event included education, financial services, waste management and energy generation.
Other African countries present at the Business Expo were Mauritius, Rwanda, Madagascar, Kenya and Djibouti to name a few. The countries present were promoting trade and investment opportunities as well as various products from their countries. In addition there were opportunities for Japanese businesses looking for more partnerships and new markets as many are already conducting businesses with some African countries, either through supplying their products or raw material to grow businesses.
Among them were companies such as Fuji Film, Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha, which already have local representatives in the Seychelles.
Ms Vidot was accompanied by a member of the investment advisory team, Jeannette Lesperance.
