Canadian High Commissioner Kylie Nunas accredited |15 March 2023
Mr Nunas presents his credentials to President Ramkalawan
Newly appointed High Commissioner of Canada to Seychelles, Kyle Michael Nunas, presented his credentials to President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House, yesterday morning.
Mr Nunas engaged in discussions with President Ramkalawan, on Canada’s commitment to multilateralism, climate change and the importance of small islands developing states in combating the effects of climate change.
“I had a fantastic meeting with the president and I would describe this as Canada week in Seychelles because I have not only presented my credentials today, but I have also had the chance to explore opportunities with government contacts and the private sector, to look at how they can increase our commercial relationship,” Mr Nunas stated.
The Canadian coastguard is currently in the country offering capacity building training as part of the largest naval training exercise, Cutlass Express,a multinational maritime exercise hosted in East Africa and the West Indian Ocean, and which aims to improve maritime security for participating countries.
Speaking of the exercise, Mr Nunas said it is a wonderful collaboration between Canada and the government of Seychelles.
“It is part of our commitment as global partners to increase the capacity to combat crime including migrant smuggling,” he said.
Mr Nunas and the head of state also discussed other areas of interest, namely education, communications technology and clean technologies.
During his mandate, an area of focus would be on increasing two-way trade and investment between Canada and Seychelles, and to continue building on the great work that is being done in the field of maritime security.
Mr Nunas will be based in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
During his stay, he has also called on Vice-President Ahmed Afif, members of Cabinet, principal secretary of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Vivianne Fock Tave, and the dean of the diplomatic corpsAmbassador Francesca Azaïs.
Mr Nunas has served in a variety of functions including managing communications for sport, and international and intergovernmental affairs. He managed the government of Canada communications in the lead-up to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
In 2006, he joined the department of foreign affairs and international trade. From 2007 to 2012,he served as director of the communications services division where he led the marketing programme for the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service.
Overseas, he served as Canada's first consul and senior trade commissioner in Bengaluru, India from 2012 to 2014 and as consul general of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 2017 to 2020.
Photo by Joena Meme