Seychelles reopens high commission in London |13 January 2010

The newly appointed high commissioner to the Court of St James in London, Patrick Pillay, said this yesterday when he called on British high commissioner Matthew Forbes at his office in Oliaji Mall.

Mr Pillay, scheduled to leave this weekend, said Seychelles and the UK have a good relationship and are expected to work on bilateral issues such as trade and tourism, climate change and military cooperation in the fight against piracy.

“Last year the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) opened an office there to do more work in the domain of tourism, and there are other areas in which we need to reinforce cooperation,” he added.

He said London is also the centre of the Commonwealth, and as a member we have to work on various joint programmes.

“London is also one of the financial capitals of Europe, and there is work to be done with investors and people in the business sector,” said Mr Pillay.

He said apart from bilateral issues, there is also a need to review our representation in non-resident countries in the European region, and now the workload will be reorganised and shared between our high commissioners based in Brussels, Paris and London.

Speaking of the reasons for reopening the office in London, Mr Pillay explained that President James Michel is working on a programme to slowly re-establish embassies in many countries.

During recent years, offices have reopened in Brussels, South Africa, China and India, and residential representatives will be placed in other countries where they are needed.

And now the UK has been seen as another priority area where we need to have a representative, Mr Pillay added.
Mr Forbes said they are delighted by Seychelles’ decision to reopen its high commission in London and by the choice of Mr Pillay as the first head of mission.

“Mr Pillay brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role,” he added.
“This will be important to enhance the work done by the STB in London and to help manage bilateral relations, as both countries deal with difficult issues such as the economy and the threat caused by regional piracy.”
Mr Forbes then wished Mr Pillay all the best in his new posting.