New SCCI chairman Nancy calls on business community to work closer |23 March 2016

Wilson Nancy is the new Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman, succeeding Marco Francis who resigned from the post on Friday February 26, 2016.

Mr Nancy was elected for a two-year mandate – 2016-2018 – during the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) annual general meeting this week at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles.

The only candidate for the post, Mr Nancy got 84 votes in favour out of the total of 108 votes cast. Another 22 votes were not in his favour while two votes were blank.

During the meeting, outgoing chairman Francis was thanked for his outstanding leadership over the past three years and for this he received a standing ovation.

Mr Nancy thanked the members present for their trust and support and promised to continue building on the foundation which had been set by the former chairman and councillors.

He also asked for their support, saying that together SCCI can “step up” and move the agendas of the business community forward.

The new chairman has requested the business community to help each other in the spirit of success for all.

“The chamber will provide guidance for those who struggle along the way to ensure their success as our ultimate wish is for all members of SCCI to be successful in their business,” said Mr Nancy, who also stressed that the SCCI should do more to promote the membership drive.

The new chairman added that the SCCI council will continue the dialogue established between SCCI and the government and one of the major issues he said he will discuss with the government is how to work faster where communications and infrastructure are concerned in order to reduce the time to market new products.

Mr Nancy has encouraged businesses to be more innovative since there is a great need for more ‘Made in Seychelles’ products.

“The chamber should also encourage investments in promoting business development and aim to make it a reality during my mandate. My plan is to remove barriers that make it hard to compete, such as tax regime and regulatory systems, making it a win-win situation for all,” said Mr Nancy.

He pointed out that along with encouraging the production of ‘Made in Seychelles’ products, the government needs to put in place mechanisms to protect intellectual properties and streamline our patent system so that our innovations can move more quickly to market.