Victoria and Chinese city of Wuhan sign twinning accord |19 October 2016

The city of Wuhan in China and Seychelles’ capital Victoria have signed an agreement aimed at building city-to-city friendship and promoting exchange and cooperation.

The agreement, the sixth to be signed with a municipality in China, was signed on Monday by the then Mayor of Victoria Jacqueline Moustache-Belle and the Mayor of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government, Wan Yong.

The signing ceremony took place at the Mayor of Victoria’s office on State House Avenue, Victoria.

There was also an exchange of gifts from both sides.

The Chinese delegation, who has been in the country since last Sunday, also paid a courtesy call on Jean-Paul Adam, Minister for Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy.

Highlighting the content of the agreement, Mrs Moustache-Belle said Victoria already had such agreements with other cities of China and this is the sixth one.

She noted that all these agreements have worked very well.

Many of the exchanges, she said, consist of various aspects like the opportunity for students to go and study in China, craft works, trade, sports activities with the support of the two embassies and governments of both countries.

After giving a brief geographical description and highlighting some of the tourism attractions of Wuhan, which he said is located in central China with a population of 13 million and economic aggregate of US $170 billion and having great rivers, Mayor Wan Yong said Seychelles is the African country closest to China, not just in distance but also in terms of heart to heart relations with good friendship.

He mentioned three main sectors in which his city and Victoria can cooperate –

infrastructure construction, engineering and design; the Blue economy and tourism.

He said Wuhan is very strong in the area of construction, engineering and design and has a lot to offer.

As for the Blue economy development, he said Wuhan can become the distribution centre of the fishery products in China. Wuhan is the capital city of Hubei Province in central China, located at the juncture of Yangtze, the world's third-longest river. The city has a lot of fresh water resources and mountains which Mr Wan said are of great attraction to tourists.

Speaking about tourism he said that Seychelles is one of the best destinations to visit, and thus opportunities for exchanges. 

The signing of the agreement was probably the last official function of Mrs Moustache-Belle as mayor of Victoria as only hours later she was announced as the chief of presidential protocol, following the appointment of new senior officials at State House by the country’s new President Danny Faure.