St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonzalves on state visit |25 June 2019
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph E. Gonzalves
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph E. Gonzalves will be arriving in Seychelles on June 28 on his first state visit.
Prime Minister Gonsalves will be here on a two-day state visit whereby he will meet with President Danny Faure and high-level government officials and is expected to have bilateral discussions on various areas of cooperation, namely the blue economy, tourism, environment, fisheries amongst others.
The highlight of his visit will however be his attendance as guest of honour of the National Day ceremony on June 29.
As small island states, both Seychelles and St. Vincent and the Grenadines share similar development challenges and concerns and both countries are firm advocates of climate change and the vulnerabilities of small islands developing states (Sids).
Seychelles and St. Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations in May 2017.
Born on August 8, 2946, Dr Gonsalves is the fourth Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines and leader of the Unity Labour Party (ULP). He was the first Prime Minister from the newly constructed ULP, following a merger of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Labour Party and the Movement for National Unity.
He had been Member of Parliament (MP) since 1994 and that same year upon the formation of the Unity Labour Party he became deputy leader, and became leader of the party in 1998.
With Dr Gonsalves as leader, the ULP has won a majority in the popular vote in every general election since 1998 though it failed to secure the majority of parliamentary seats in the 1998 election.
Lying within the Lesser Antilles, in the eastern Caribbean Sea, island country St. Vincent and the Grenadines consists of the island of St Vincent and the northern Grenadine Islands, which stretch southward toward Grenada.
The island of St Vincent lies about 32 kilometres southwest of Saint Lucia and 160 kilometres west of Barbados. It is 30 kilometres long and has a maximum width of 11 18 kilometres. The larger islands of the Grenadines associated with Saint Vincent are Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau, Mustique, Prune (Palm) Island, Petit Saint Vincent Island, and Union Island. The Tobago Cays, just to the east of Mayreau, have been designated a wildlife reserve.
The name St. Vincent originally applied to the mainland and the group of smaller islands associated with it. After the attainment of independence in 1979 the multi-island state was renamed St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The capital and major port is Kingstown, on St. Vincent. The country is a member of the Commonwealth just like Seychelles.
Most of St. Vincent is rugged and mountainous, volcanic in origin and with an active volcano, La Soufrière, which rises to 1,234 metres and is the island’s highest point; its last violent eruption was in April 1979.
Some 69 per cent of the country’s land area is forested.
Many of St. Vincent’s beaches are of black volcanic sand, while the Grenadine beaches are of fine white sand.