7th EU-Seychelles Political Dialogue |29 November 2019
The dialogue delegates in a souvenir photograph (Photo: Louis Toussaint)
EU committed to working closely with Seychelles
Seychelles hosted the 7th EU-Seychelles Political Dialogue yesterday at the Eden Bleu Hotel.
This high-level meeting falls under the framework of Article 8 of the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement and was chaired by Vice-President Vincent Meriton and co-chaired by the head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Republic of Seychelles, Vincent Degert.
The meeting was attended by six ministers and over 20 high level and technical officials and representatives from eleven EU member States and the deputy Commander of EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta.
Both parties focused on six main items namely Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights including Cooperation at Regional and International Fora; Environment, Climate Change and Ocean Governance; Health, Education and Social Issues; Economic Partnership Agreement and economic cooperation including investment and business climate; peace and stability and Post-Cotonou.
In his opening speech, VP Meriton noted that this event adds a political dimension to the development, trade and economic cooperation which is embedded in the Cotonou Agreement and how the EU remains a safe anchor and vital link for a modern and forward looking Seychelles.
“Our dialogue today, is not only to reaffirm the high importance we place on our relationship with the EU, but also to discuss ways and means to elevate it to greater heights. We are indeed confident that the EU, within the ACP-EU framework and beyond, will back the ongoing efforts being deployed by the Government of Seychelles to invest in areas such as human development, innovation and research, all of which are the cornerstone of a modern and innovation-driven economy,” said the VP.
It is a fact that EU has been closely associated with the development and diversification of the Seychelles’ economy.
“The first EU-Seychelles Political Dialogue dates back to 2012 and we firmly believe that today’s event is a sign of maturity of our partnership. Today we aim to hold discussions on our current and future partnership, exchange views and various topics and find ways for us to continue working together to address global challenges,” noted the VP.
Ambassador Degert also pointed out that “the EU is determined to continue working closely together with Seychelles in a wide range of fields where EU brings added value and has a strong comparative advantage. It is notably the case when it comes to helping to address Seychelles environmental vulnerability and promoting sustainable solutions for its development, partnering on maritime security and regional cooperation, developing blue economy, increasing trade, and creating transparent and predictable business environment. The institutional capacity building that the EU is providing will help Seychelles to tackle corruption, money laundering and other forms of financial crime”.
The fact that Seychelles is now being considered as a high income country, for how long will the EU continue to support the Seychelles? The EU ambassador explained that “We have a long lasting relationship of 42 years. The cooperation we have is deeply structured and we want to congratulate Seychelles for moving from a developing country to a high income country. Does this mean the cooperation stops? Not at all! We have new avenues opening and just this week we have signed three technical agreements where we will be reinforcing the capacity of the Attorney General, the capacity of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the reinforcement to the support of the private sector. It’s true there is no developing aids coming per se but there are new avenues. There is another one critical avenue that we are also consulting about is the development and modernisation of Port Victoria. By doubling the size of the quay by 40 metres, we allow Seychelles to look into the future and to become a modern port which will allow development for tourists, fisheries and fuel products. We need to make it safe and secure for the inhabitants of Mahé. It is a strategic investment and that we do through blending operations. It is a new formula that we are developing. Another track we are discussing is our trade relations, we have agreements that are working and we have seen an increase in exports from Seychelles to the EU by 30%. We need to keep that process up and running and we need to consolidate our trade agreement by adding the ‘sustainable’ aspect.”
Vidya Gappy
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Did you know?
EU-Seychelles partnership: The European Union and the Republic of Seychelles have a solid partnership which started in 1977. During four decades, Seychelles has received €40 million in development aid from the European Union under successive European Development Funds, covering various sectors, from Environment to Economic reform programme and Education. For 2014-2020, Seychelles has received an allocation of €10 million to implement the Economic Partnership Agreement which adds to the bilateral envelope of €2.2 million. Seychelles also benefits from several other EU instruments including regional programmes, the Common Security and Defence Policy (EUVAFOR Operation Atalanta), the Global Climate Change Alliance and thematic budget lines for Environment and Non-State Actors. The EU-Seychelles partnership not only covers Development, Investment or Trade, but also an increasingly close cooperation in the areas of Maritime Security, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals. The European Union remains Seychelles' top trading partner. The EU is also Seychelles’ largest source of tourist arrivals.