The Public Enterprises Act, 2023 takes effect |03 June 2023

Minister Hassan

The Public Enterprises Act, 2023 has been effected as of June 1, 2023.

The notice for the commencement date was signed by the Minister for Finance, National Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, by way of S.I 43 of 2023, published on Wednesday May 31, 2023.

The notification of the commencement date follows the assent of the bill into law by President Wavel Ramkalawan on the same day.

It was last week that the National Assembly approved the Public Enterprises Bill, 2023, after a long session which ended at nearly 9pm.

The act provides for the continuation of the Public Enterprise Monitoring Commission, strengthens the governance framework for the oversight and monitoring of public enterprises, repeals the public enterprise monitoring commission act, 2013 and provides for other incidental or connected matters.

Minister Hassan said the act will “pave for the way forward in the operation, governance, and oversight of state owned enterprises”.

“The economy has evolved, the situation has changed, and the act lays the basis for the transformation of how SOEs operate and their monitoring. The government and by default the people of Seychelles, as the main shareholder in all of the SOEs must at all times be aware of how they are operating, their financial situation and risks/challenges they are encountering.”

The Act is providing for the implementation of good governance principles, hence allowing for more transparency and accountability in the operations of SOEs, ensuring appointments are based on meritocracy and increasing the effective supervision and oversight on the SOEs, by the Public Enterprises Monitoring Commission (PEMC).

“By enacting the new Public Enterprises Bill, 2023, the government is sending a clear message; all SOEs must become more effective in their operation, increase their level of good governance, accountability and transparency, and is it increasing the level of supervision and monitoring being undertaken by PEMC, while ensuring the SOEs remain financially sustainable and not dependent on the national budget,” concluded Minister Hassan.

Minister Hassan has expressed his appreciation to everybody involved in the preparation, drafting, approval and assent of the Public Enterprises Act, 2023.

Sunny Esparon/Patsy Canaya