Minister Radegonde on official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |02 June 2022

Minister Radegonde and Minister Al-Khateeb after signing the MoU

The Minister for Foreign Affairs & Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, undertook an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from May 29 to 31, 2022 at the invitation of His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In their meeting the two ministers discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Minister Radegonde also conveyed Seychelles’ support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the Expo 2030 in Riyadh.

Minister Radegonde also met with Ahmed Aqeel Al-Khateeb, the Minister for Tourism for Saudi Arabia and the chairman of the Board of Directors for the Saudi Fund for Development. The ministers discussed potential areas of cooperation, especially in the field of tourism, and support from the Saudi Fund for Development for potential projects, which include the reconstruction of the La Digue school and the construction of social housing on Mahé and Praslin. During their meeting the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of tourism, which will allow the two sides to exchange expertise in planning, tourism investment, and developing tourism sites and projects.

Minister Radegonde also held discussions with Bander Almohanna, managing director and the chief executive of Flynas airline, as well as Captain Ibrahim Koshy, chief executive of Saudi Airlines, to discuss the possibility of the two airlines operating direct flights to Seychelles in the near future.

As part of his visit, Minister Radegonde also attended a tourism event organised by the Tourism department of Seychelles to showcase Seychelles as a destination to Saudi Arabian journalists and travel trade professionals.

The Seychelles minister expressed Seychelles’ eagerness to welcome Saudi Arabian visitors to its shores.

The minister was accompanied on his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Bernadette Willemin, director-general of the destination marketing division, Tourism department; Ahmed Fathallah from the Seychelles Representation Office in Dubai; and Jean-Luc Louise,

third secretary, bilateral affairs division, Foreign Affairs department.