Youth entrepreneurs voice out their concerns |06 September 2017

The meeting in progress

A group of young entrepreneurs had the opportunity to put forward their various concerns and recommendations in regards to the business environment.

This happened through a symposium organised by the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), the Association for Young Entrepreneurs Seychelles (AYES) in collaboration with the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC).

The meeting was chaired by the acting chairperson of SCCI Olivier Bastienne, AYES chairperson Iouana Pillay, AYES vice-chairperson Luther Denis and two executive members of AYES.

The most pertinent among the issues raised were in relation to finances, land allocation, challenging business environment, access to information, ease of doing business and the education system.

The youths pointed out that they do not know where to go when they are in need of assistance or information so they recommended a streamline process or have all the information accessible in one place instead of going back and forth like a ping pong ball from office to office.

The recommendations put forward were also being considered to finalise the budget being simulated for 2018 to hand over to the Ministry of Finance.

As a business owner Mr Denis raised his concern in regards to SCCI putting small businesses to the side and only focusing on the bigger established ones.

Mr Bastienne disagreed with this statement and said recognition should be given to progress being made between the business sector and the youth.

“Over the years various innovative solutions have been brought forward by the young entrepreneurs and I hope that me being present today shows that we want to move forward and make sure your voices are heard,” he said.

Mr Bastienne also made a brief introduction on SCCI and stated that the last time the SCCI met the youth to discuss the limitations with their business was over two years ago and this meeting would help them see if any progress has been made down the line.

“This will open up a direct dialogue between the youth and the business sector to allow more improvement to be made in the business environment,” he said.

Mrs Pillay said the turnout is good for a start as many young entrepreneurs showed their interest to be part of the symposium.

She said as the economy changes and more young people are interested in joining the business community they are promoting innovation.

“We need to make the youth part of the decision making for us to have new ideas in the business community that we live in so that we have new people, new minds and a new structure. It’s a big thing in Seychelles history to have the SCCI liaise with the youth,” she said.

She hopes to have AYES liaise with other ministerial departments and key agencies involved with the youth to reach a larger scope.

“There’s a tendency where the youth feel left behind so we are encouraging those who have already established their businesses to come forward to join AYES and SCCI,” she said.

Mr Denis said the challenges faced by the youth will be brought forward to SCCI boards so that the government policies can also be structured around their concerns.