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Joint management of the Extended Continental Shelf – 8th Commission meeting |15 February 2016

More progress made, first ministerial meeting expected to be held here

 

A first ministerial meeting which would give more support to the work being carried out and progress achieved by Mauritius and Seychelles in their effort to jointly manage the Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) in the Mascarene Plateau, is expected to be held here by the middle of the year.

This was among numerous issues that were discussed and agreed on during the 8th Joint Commission Meeting of the ECS held here on Saturday at the Ministry of Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy.

The ministerial meeting is also expected to discuss the legal framework being presently drafted and finalised by the two countries.

The new co-chair of the Joint Commission for the Seychelles side and special advisor in the Ministry of Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy Philippe Michaud gave these details after the meeting on Saturday afternoon.

Raymond Chang-Tave, who has been co-chairing both the Technical Committee and the Joint Commission meetings since discussions on the management of the ECS started several years ago, now chairs only the Technical Committee but continues to share his experience in both.

Mr Michaud also said that during that ministerial meeting the two parties have also agreed to hold meetings of both the Joint Commission and the Technical Committee.

A strategic plan prepared by the two parties will be launched then, Mr Michaud said.

Commenting on the remarkable progress the two countries have achieved in their joint effort to manage the ECS in the Mascarene Plateau – an area of some 396,000 square km – Mr Michaud said this is commendable.

“Often countries try to work together when they have issues of contention to resolve but in the case of Mauritius and Seychelles we are working together because we wanted to do something good together and prevent any future issues of contention from arising,” Mr Michaud added.

Other issues relating to future exploration of the area were also discussed. Meanwhile he pointed out that all the different modalities related to the setting up of a designated authority to guarantee the sustainable development of the ECS will be discussed in the coming months.

Mr Michaud has described this 8th meeting of the Joint Commission as fruitful where both sides have shown their commitment and desire to move forward.

“It happens that we disagree on some issues but we respect and understand each other’s views,” said Mr Michaud.

Earlier in the morning during the opening of the meeting, Sateeaved Seebaluck, the head of the Mauritian delegation at the meeting, commended the determination of both the Mauritian and Seychelles governments to accelerate the modalities to develop the jointly managed area.

“This testifies to the great importance that each government attaches to the economic well-being of our respective nations,” Mr Seebaluck added.

But while acknowledging the good progress made, Mr Seebaluck has called for accelerated action at every level on both sides to have in place the necessary administrative, institutional and regulatory framework to develop the ECS.

“Time has come to double our efforts. We need to achieve concrete and tangible results,” he said, noting that the two sides should also “bring to the attention of their respective governments any hurdles so that these can be addressed at the highest political levels”.

 

 

 

 

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