Zambian envoy pledges new drive to boost ties |03 April 2013

She said this after presenting her credentials to President James Michel at State House, adding Seychelles to the countries in which she represents her country from her Nairobi base which include Israel and Kenya.

Describing our ties as “very warm and dating back 20 years”, Ms Zambezi said it is time to take trade and investment as well as joint tourism undertakings to a higher level.
Saying both her country and Seychelles are peaceful, she told the media there is a lot we can learn from each other, naming trade and investment together with tourism as the sectors she will focus on.

Describing herself as someone who pushes to get things done, the experienced business executive said we have done a lot in tourism which Zambia can learn so as not to be too heavily dependent on copper exports.

Zambia has depended on copper for so long but now our President Michael Chilufya Sata wants us to diversify into tourism.
“In June we will host a cultural festival and we are inviting Seychelles to take part,” she said.

She said in a few months their national carrier will increase flights to Nairobi and Johannesburg from the touristic city of Livingstone which hosts the Victoria falls – one of the wonders of the world – situated not far from animal parks where visitors can see it, watch wild life and link with flights to Seychelles so as to combine their trips with the unique tropical island experience our archipelago offers.

“We can now complement each other’s tourism industry and we both benefit,” she said.

She called on tour operators in Seychelles to take advantage of the opportunities.

“We should not just end talks on enhancing our relations at lip service level. We have been talking for a long time, now is time for action,” she said, suggesting Zambia can tell their visitors about Seychelles and vice versa.

“The Zambian economy has been liberalised. You can invest so much money and be able to repatriate it,” she said, calling on Seychellois investors “to consider the conducive conditions her country offers”.