Sri Lanka ideal Shipbuilding Hub - Seychelles FM

‘Both countries share common geo - political interests’:

Seychelles Foreign Minister Jean-Paul Adam who was on a two day visit to Sri Lanka at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris said Seychelles President James Alix Mitchel has the vision to promote Sri Lanka as the Shipbuilding Hub and build strong links with Sri Lanka.

The Seychelles Foreign Minister said so when he called on Prof Peiris at the External Affairs Ministry for bilateral discussions on Thursday. Minister Prof Peiris said he was pleased to receive the minister from the friendly island nation of Seychelles.

He noted that it was the first visit of the Foreign Minister of Seychelles.

Minister Peiris noted that as both countries share common geo - political interests, Sri Lanka could exchange with Seychelles its experience and expert knowledge, particularly in the fields of fisheries, maritime security, shipbuilding and tourism. He also identified the education, health, mini-hydro power and hospitality sectors as areas for further cooperation.

Both ministers emphasized the necessity of establishing direct air links between the two countries as the way to enhance tourism and trade.

The Seychelles Foreign Minister thanked the External Affairs Minister for inviting him to visit Sri Lanka and giving him an opportunity to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the areas of trade, economy and tourism.

He said their President James Alix Mitchel wants to promote Sri Lanka as the shipbuilding hub and strengthen the strong ties with Sri Lanka. The Seychelles minister said the government of Seychelles is very keen to have closer cooperation between smaller nations in the Indian Ocean so that it would be beneficial to the people of the countries in the region. Both ministers noted that countries have been affected by piracy and stressed the importance for both countries to work together to fight against piracy to protect sea transportation in the region.

He said that although Seychelles has a small population of 90,000, they receive over 250,000 tourists annually and are interested in obtaining the services of Sri Lankan companies in the health sector and hospitality trade as well.

Minister Peiris said that Sri Lanka will extend support to the government and the People of Seychelles. The minister also met representatives of private sector companies to promote trade between the two countries.

The Seychelles minister said that one purpose of his visit was to do the ground work for the forthcoming visit of President James Alix Mitchel,who has already accepted the invitation extended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit Sri Lanka later in the year.

He also said that Seychelles has already established trade links with the Sri Lankan companies and that he is looking forward to more private sector involvement for Sri Lankan companies to enhance trade with Seychelles.

He also stated that the government of Seychelles would be the client to Sri Lankan companies that are interested in investing in the health sector, particularly in the construction of hospitals and development of health services, including supply of medical officers.

Minister Jean-Paul Adam further said as the cost of production is fairly high in Seychelles they look forward to importing many of their required products from Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan products are of superior quality.He also said that they have identified Sri Lanka as their major supplier of commodities and vessels. The visiting minister stated that their Parliament recently passed a Bill on complete liberalization of renewable energy which would enable Lankans to invest in this field. As Seychelles is a member of the African Union, Sri Lankan businessmen could use Seychelles, as the Gateway to Africa, particularly to East Africa in their trade relations.

The visiting minister also called on the Economic Development Minister, Fisheries Minister, Industry and Commerce Minister and Defence and Urban Development Secretary for discussions.

Both ministers addressed a joint media briefing session and had an interaction with private sector representatives of leading health, ship building and hydro power sector companies. The bilateral meetings were also attended by External Affairs Ministry Secretary K. Amunugama and senior ministry officials.