Seychelles-South Africa to set up joint commission in 2015 for increased cooperation

Maison Queau de Quinssy, Victoria. The seat of the Foreign Affairs Ministry where the senior officials meeting between Seychelles and South Africa took place on Monday. (Seychelles Ministry of Foreign Affairs)  

(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles and South Africa have expressed the desire to consolidate the existing ties of friendship and cooperation which exist between them through the setting up of a joint commission.

In a press statement issued on Monday, the Seychelles Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this was agreed upon following the first senior officials meeting between the two countries.

The meeting which took place in the Seychelles capital of Victoria on August 14, is in accordance with the general cooperation agreement which Seychelles and South Africa signed in January 2007.

“The countries expressed their satisfaction with the successful deliberations of the Senior Officials Meeting and agreed to hold the 1st Joint Commission in South Africa in 2015 at mutually convenient dates,” read the statement.

The meeting led by the Seychelles Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Maurice Loustau-Lalanne and South Africa’s Deputy Director General, Africa Bilateral, Department of International Relation and Cooperation, Ebrahim Saley, (DIRCO) saw both sides acknowledge the necessity to collaborate across a variety of sectors.

This includes labor and employment, social development, trade and investment, agriculture and fisheries, education and human resource development, environment and renewable energy, youth and sports, military and police, tourism and culture.

“Such extensive cooperation across a broad spectrum of themes has the added benefit of stimulating people-to people linkages which is an essential component of our socio-economic development,” said Loustau Lalanne in the statement.

The Blue Economy Concept, which the Indian Ocean island nation is spearheading, was also tabled.

“…Both sides agreed to promote the concept in light of the upcoming Small Islands Developing States Summit to be held in Samoa. The two countries remained cognizant of the importance of the Indian Ocean and pledged to work together towards the sustainable development of the shared oceanic territory,” concluded the statement.