Seychelles and Sri Lanka to broaden cooperation in fisheries, legal affairs |02 March 2017

President Danny Faure has held talks with the Minister for Fisheries of the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka Mahinda Amaraweera.

The meeting was held as part of President Faure’s first working visit in Sri Lanka.

During the visit President Faure also held talks with the country’s Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya and Minister for Justice Wijayadasa Rajapakshe.

Following the talks, Seychelles and Sri Lanka will work on a new policy frame work with the Attorney General and Department of Justice to allow for better collaboration between the two countries in the domain of Legal Affairs.

During his meeting with the fisheries minister, President Faure expressed his appreciation for the excellent relations that exist between Seychelles and Sri Lanka and his gratitude for being granted the opportunity to hold discussions with the minister and his team. 

The meeting was also an opportunity for President Faure to introduce the new Seychelles Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Michael Benstrong to his counterpart.

The main purpose of the meeting was to primarily discuss and agree on ways in which Sri Lanka can work in closer collaboration with Seychelles in line with broadening the scope of cooperation in the fisheries sector such as providing administrative guidelines for a more favourable business environment that ensures the different local small and medium-sized enterprise schemes (SMEs) for Seychellois fishermen can benefit from greater access to both fisheries equipment, products and financing facilities particularly for the procurement of fishing vessels.

Seychelles has also sought the technical support and expertise of Sri Lanka in relation to the aquaculture industry.

On behalf of Sri Lanka, Minister Amaraweera pledged their commitment and expressed their willingness to assist Seychelles in partnering with Sri Lanka in the relevant fisheries related areas.

Other areas of cooperation discussed during the meeting also include greater assistance in the sharing of technical expertise, capacity building and funding for training.

Further to the fruitful deliberations, Minister Benstrong will be extending his working visit in Sri Lanka in order conduct more in-depth discussions and supplement the agreed cooperation areas for the further development of the fisheries industry in Seychelles.

Also present at the meeting was Ambassador David Pierre, high commissioner of Seychelles to Sri Lanka and deputy head of mission high commission of Seychelles, Ambassador Conrad Mederic.