Two new ambassadors accredited |28 September 2016

Messrs Nghiwete (photo below) and Dlhopolček present their credentials to President Michel

A new Namibian high commissioner, Veiccoh K. Nghiwete, and a new ambassador of the Slovak Republic, František Dlhopolček, presented their credentials to President James Michel at State House yesterday morning.

Mr Nghiwete replaces Marten Kapewasha whose tenure of office ended in October 2014 while Mr Dlhopolček replaces Dr Michal Mlynar who completed his mandate in September last year.

Both Mr Nghiwete and Mr Dlhopolček also paid a courtesy call on Vice-President Danny Faure after their first meeting with President Michel.

Speaking to the local media soon after, Mr Nghiwete said his aim is to continue to “enhance bilateral relations between our two countries”.

“Seychelles and Namibia have come a long way following their liberation struggle and the two countries even once shared an office in Dar es Salam so therefore we must continue to share experiences, work together, to help each other according to the comparative advantages of our two countries. We have so much in common in a number of areas like fishing, environment protection, tourism… for now our two countries are in the discussion phase of a memorandum of understanding of bilateral cooperation which will be signed soon,” Mr Nghiwete said.

Commenting on the atmosphere of peace and stability which both countries are enjoying, Mr Nghiwete said the time is right to strengthen economic cooperation, something he said President Michel was very forthcoming in advancing.

Mr Nghiwete described the talks he had with Vice-President Faure as excellent and were also centred around exploring new ways to boost cooperation.

Mr Nghiwete is based in Pretoria, South Africa.

As for Mr Dlhopolček he also expressed the keen desire to boost existing cooperation between “two friendly countries” in numerous sectors.

“We are ready to explore other areas of cooperation and to continue to cooperate closely in the field of education – many medical doctors and dentists are studying on scholarships in Slovakia. Possibilities for cooperation also exist in the fields of agriculture, industries, tourism and many more and we would like to explore all those possibilities,” Mr Dlhopolček stressed.

On the issue of cooperation in the tourism sector, Mr Dlhopolček said this is very important and should be strengthened as the number of Slovak tourists visiting Seychelles is growing, reaching over a thousand this year.

Mr Dlhopolček went on to add that Seychelles and the Slovak Republic are both very small countries which will continue to support each other in international forums and organisations as “your problems are our problems”.

Mr Dlhopolček said at present the two countries are in the process of discussing air links to make it easier for visitors of the two countries.

He added that during his mandate he plans to work on increasing exchange visits between delegates of the two countries, noting that there is a great will and desire here to make all this possible.

Mr Dlhopolček is based in Nairobi, Kenya.