Seychelles and Kuwait to work on visa waiver agreement and air link, says new Kuwaiti ambassador 

Mubarak Mohammad Alsehaijan paid a courtesy call on Ramkalawan at State House on Thursday. (State House)

(Seychelles News Agency) - A possible visa waiver agreement between Kuwait and Seychelles and creating an air link so that there can be more travel between the two countries, are part of the discussion held between the Ambassador of Kuwait to Seychelles and President Wavel Ramkalawan on Thursday.

Mubarak Mohammad Alsehaijan paid a courtesy call on Ramkalawan at State House.

The ambassador, who was accredited in July 2019, also extended his condolences to Seychelles with regard to the recent disasters in which three people died and several hundred are still in need of assistance.

He expressed his wish that everyone affected will be able to recover swiftly.

Alsehaijan told reporters that in his meeting with Ramkalawan, various areas of continued cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

"We are looking at finding a way to have visa-free travel between Seychelles and Kuwait, and we are hoping that this can be done within two years," he said.

The ambassador said that a visa waiver agreement and an air-link between will bring more travellers to and from both countries.  

Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, established diplomatic relations with Kuwait July 11, 1988.

The cooperation between the two countries has mainly been with the kuwait fund

, which provides funds with an aim to help developing countries finance their development projects.

Seychelles and the international institution established ties in 1985 and the Kuwait Fund has financed fishery and sewage projects and provided financial assistance worth $12 million for infrastructure projects and grants worth $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, the ambassador met with the Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sylvestre Radegonde on Tuesday and among the subjects discussed was the possibility of signing a general cooperation agreement, which will provide the mechanism for collaboration in various beneficial areas.

"Ambassador Alsehaijan emphasised that Seychelles has the potential to benefit from investors from Kuwait, especially in the sectors of trade and tourism, by initiating of a visit that could be organised by the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce for representatives of the private sector of the two countries to meet," said the Department.

Cooperation in the field of tourism, which is the top contributor to the Seychelles economy, was also discussed.