Australia's new high commissioner commends Seychelles on environmental leadership

The new Australian High Commissioner will be based in Mauritius and will be serving a 3-year term. (Thomas Meriton, Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The newly accredited Australian High Commissioner has commended Seychelles for championing the sustainable use of ocean resources while describing the island nation’s environmentally sustainable economic development solutions as innovative.

Jenny Dee made the statement on Tuesday after having presented her credentials to Seychelles’ President Danny Faure at State House, Victoria.

“Australia and Seychelles have been building cooperation in the blue economy space for some time now and [the president and I] spoke about how we can build on that in the future,” said Dee.

The diplomat said that they also touched on issues affecting the oceans in general, and on regional cooperation, as both countries are active members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association.

President Faure and the Australian High Commissioner touched on issues affecting the oceans in general. (Thomas Meriton, Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in June 1976, a relationship that the high commissioner described as warm and longstanding. Dee added that strong people-to-people ties exist between Australia and Seychelles, a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

“Australia has been a very attractive destination to study in, and we have a very strong Australian alumni community in the Seychelles that are really contributing to the development of the country, both in terms of the public institutions as well as the private sector,” said Dee.

The high commissioner added that there are Australian universities, research centres and companies operating in Seychelles, working with local institutions to build knowledge capacity. They are also working with local authorities to find potential solutions in terms of renewable and clean energy, as well as looking at livelihoods in the aquaculture sector.

The University of Seychelles and the University of Western Australia have a partnership agreement through which human development is enhanced through academic and cultural interchange in teaching, research and training.

The newly accredited high commissioner also made a courtesy call to the vice president of Seychelles, Vincent Meriton.

Based in Port Louis, Mauritius, Dee is also interested in exploring potential areas for two-way exchanges in trade and investment between the two countries. She will be serving a three-year term.