Ease of doing business index |23 January 2018

Cabinet not happy with Seychelles’ ranking

The Cabinet has expressed disappointment with Seychelles’ ranking in the 2018 world ease-of-doing-business index.

The recently released report placed Seychelles in 95th place out of 190 countries.

Mauritius was ranked 25th while first and second places were taken by New Zealand and Singapore.

Cabinet advised that regulatory agencies take all necessary measures to streamline and accelerate procedures to make the Seychelles business environment as efficient as possible.

This was revealed by a panel from the Cabinet Office during the weekend while briefing members of the press on issues that were discussed in the Cabinet’s latest meeting on Friday last week.

During the Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Danny Faure, a number of legal and policy memoranda were considered.

The panel from the Cabinet Office during the debriefing session with the media comprised the secretary of state for cabinet affairs Mohammed Afif, the deputy cabinet secretary for policy affairs Margaret Pillay and the deputy cabinet secretary for institutional affairs Johny Bastienne.

In its latest meeting the Cabinet approved for the construction of new infrastructure on Mahé and Praslin that would improve the quality and quantity of meat produced locally. These include the construction of a modern abattoir on Mahé and Praslin as well as a hatchery.

The priority is to make agriculture and fisheries better to benefit the community, and also by reducing importation from other countries.

Mrs Pillay stated that the country needs a new abattoir to benefit the community.

“We’ve had only one abattoir on Mahé for the past 43 years; we need something modern to benefit the entire population. We have identified a new area at Grand Anse where we expect the project to start very soon,” she said.

The Cabinet also approved for Seychelles to trade with Kenya in 21 crop commodities. These include among others cabbage, mangoosteen, cauliflower and onion. The decision was based on a pest risk analysis that was undertaken on the specified crops in Kenya to ensure that satisfactory risk management measures were in place to ensure safe trade.

This approved memorandum comes after the visit of President Faure in Kenya last year, a move which is expected to bring down the price on commodities in the country.

During the meeting the Cabinet also approved Seychelles’ position for the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s allocation criteria fisheries catch in the high seas as well as in the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Proposals will be discussed in the fourth IOTC Technical Committee meeting due to be held in Seychelles in February.

Cabinet approved a proposal for the construction of an additional market for the sale of fruit, vegetables and other miscellaneous items. The new market will be located at the hypermarket on Bois De Rose Avenue.

This decision comes after work has started on the small market adjacent to the main Victoria Market.  The street vendors will also be placed at the new market.

Cabinet also endorsed the youth motivation building programme called ‘Inspire to Aspire’. The aim of the programme is to use high profile personalities as role models to inspire young people to aim high and achieve their dreams.

The programme will be managed by the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC) and will involve personalities from sports, culture, entrepreneurship and social engagement.

Cabinet also advised that steps be taken to address the concerns of residents of Ile Perseverance who had expressed the wish to have an open space within their community for recreation and socialising.

The Ministry of Habitat is still trying to locate the perfect area for such project to be implemented.

The last discussion of the cabinet was the concerns expressed by the community in their letters and meetings with President Faure and with ministers. The concerns cited included excessive noise from neighbours and entertainment establishments in the community, as well as instances of poor service delivery.

The poor service delivery includes bad management, better communication, and share information with the public among others.

The President directed that resolute action be taken to properly address all issues of concern.