Seychelles to host major anti-piracy conference |13 May 2016

Seychelles will later this month host a major anti-piracy conference which will be attended by high government personalities and other key representatives of regional countries concerned by the issue of piracy.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council has mandated that the 19th Plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) will start officially on May 31 at the International Conference Centre (ICCS) and it will closely follow on the historic visit of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon  to our islands.

It was at the 18th Plenary meeting of the group, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City that delegates of the CGPCS agreed to a proposal by the European Union (EU) that Seychelles as a regional leader in the Indian Ocean, should take up the chairmanship and secretariat, with the EU handing this over to Seychelles on January 1 this year.

Since the handover, Seychelles held a strategy meeting on February 1 in Mumbai, India where it welcomed the decision to reduce the High Risk Area (HRA) in the Indian Ocean, and this came into effect  on December 1 last year following intense discussions by trade representatives of the shipping industry, insurance companies, and other contact group members.

The Mumbai meeting, hosted by the Indian government, provided an opportunity for contact group members to support holding their 19th meeting in Seychelles under the theme ‘From the Region to the Region; Creating a Lasting Legacy’.

Raymond St Ange, the head of the CGPCS here, said the preparations for the conference is well underway and high level delegations from the region and beyond have confirmed their involvement.

He said locally representatives from the leisure and yachting industry, shipping, insurance, seafarers association, naming but a few have been invited to attend the opening of the conference.

The CGPCS secretariat confirmed that at this time there is commitment for several naval ships from contact group member states to be present in Port Victoria during the four-day plenary, providing an interesting backdrop for the anti-piracy meeting.

The secretariat also confirmed that Liam Webber of M&C SAATCHI will make an important presentation on strategic communications and its effects in Somalia. This is expected to be hosted onboard one of the visiting naval vessels.