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Archive -Seychelles

Sri Lanka and Seychelles: A glimpse of the journey together during the recent past |10 February 2018

Sri Lanka and Seychelles have a lot of similarities in their outlook: both countries are island nations situated across the Indian Ocean and blessed with abundant natural resources. Both were under colonial rule for some period of time during its recent past. Their social fabric is essentially multi cultural with abundant diversity.  Relations between the two governments date back to October 3, 1988 and since then has progressed steadily. The first resident mission of the Sri Lanka high commissioner was established in December 2013 and the new high commission office was opened on June 28, 2014.

The present high commissioner of Sri Lanka to Seychelles, Tikiri Herath Gunathilake, was appointed in July 2015 and assumed duties in Seychelles on  September 23, 2015. During the period since then, the new high commissioner has exerted all efforts to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two nations thus bringing benefits to both communities.

During this period, political leaders and government officials from both countries have visited each other. His Excellency Danny Faure, President of Seychelles, visited Sri Lanka in February 2017 and had discussions with His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka regarding the strengthening of bilateral relations between two countries. His Excellency also had discussions with Hon. Minister of Justice and the Attorney General on enhancing cooperation in the legal sphere. During this visit, His Excellency the President had “expressed the need to pursue and develop cooperation in the fields of tourism, agriculture and fisheries with Sri Lanka” 1. In  this visit, His Excellency’s  special attention has been paid to observe the highly specialised medical procedures and services adopted at the Hemas Hospitals and Lanka Hospitals, two leading health care providers who are engaged in providing health care facilities to Seychellois people2.

 

 

His Excellency Vincent Meriton, the vice-president of Seychelles, visited Sri Lanka in August 2017 to attend the Indian Ocean Conference held in Colombo and had discussions with Hon. Ranil Wickramasinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Special emphasis was made on improving cooperation in education and training, tourism, healthcare industry and fisheries.

Hon. Susil Premjayanth, Minister of Science, Technology visited Seychelles on May 29, 2016 and had discussions with Hon. Danny Faure, the then Minister of Science and Technology regarding the cooperation in the areas of science and technology.   

Hon. Daya Gamage, Minister of Primary Industries, arrived Seychelles on February 15, 2017.

On January 12, 2018  Hon. Kabir Hashim, Minister of Public Enterprise Development arrived. During all these visits they had discussions with their counterparts to ascertain ways and means to promote bilateral cooperation and bring about advancements to both societies.

On January 9, 2018 a delegation of officers led by Dhammika Dissanayake,  Secretary General of the Parliament of Sri Lanka arrived in Seychelles.

As a result of the efforts made by the Sri Lanka high commission in association with the University of Seychelles, the International Conference on Seychelles and Sri Lanka: Education and Business Opportunities was jointly organised and held on July 13 & 14, 2016 at the Ma Joie campus of the university. The participants included Professor Mohan de Silva, chairman of the UGC, Sri Lanka and prominent leaders in the business and educational sectors of both countries. As a sequel to this event, a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2017 between Seychelles Institute of Arts and Design (SIAD) and the University of Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA), Sri Lanka. Already, a workshop on Portrait, Drawing and Painting has been conducted by S.P.Aravinda, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Painting, UVPA from September 12-15, 2017 for the benefits of staff and students of SIAD.

In October 2016, Hon. Justice F. MacGregor, President of the Court of Appeals arrived on a one-week long tour to Sri Lanka to explore the possibility of obtaining the service of Sri Lankan professionals in the judiciary to streamline the judiciary of Seychelles, and had discussions with the Minister of Justice, the Secretary to the H.E. the President, secretary to the Ministry of Justice, chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the President of the Institute of Judges. This was followed by a visit by Professor Dennis Hardy, vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles in December 2016. Professor Hardy had meetings with the chairman of the UGC and Professor Sunanda Madduma Bandara, vice- chancellor of the University of Kelaniya.

Bank of Ceylon, Sanken Lanka (Overseas) Limited, Sri Lankan Airlines, Colombo International Nautical & Engineering College (CINEC), Lanka Hospitals Limited, Hemas Hospitals Limited and Medical Tourism (Pvt) Ltd are among the leading business organisations successfully operational  in Seychelles. These organisations supplemented by some more commercial and industrial organisations based in Sri Lanka have significantly contributed to the development of infrastructure and manpower in particular, and the Seychelles society in general. This is evident from the fact that all Seychellois  political leaders visiting Sri Lanka making it a habit to call over at some of these organisations. The contribution made by the Sri Lankan Airlines is also of very high significance as they are one of the few airlines providing link to South and South East Asia with four flights a week with minimum transit times to India.

 

The contributions made by the Sri Lankan professionals in judicial, education, business, health care and a host of other sectors, towards the uplifting  of the Seychellois society is highly significant. The value of the services provided by them is evident from the fact that at present there is a Sri Lankan community of over 2,500 who have become citizens of the country, enriching the relations between two countries. The latest infusions in these activities are related to the development of the agricultural sector in Seychelles. A team of agricultural professionals visited here in October 2017 to familiarise with the prevailing situation and practices, and to propose a suitable mechanism. It is envisaged to provide training to selected Seychellois farmers at the specialist centres in Sri Lanka about the application of tissue culture and other advanced techniques to improve agricultural productivity.

H.E. Gunathilake, the high commissioner of Sri Lanka attended the Plenary Sessions of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) held in Mauritius from July 5-7, 2017. As a major stakeholder in ensuring protection in this highly volatile region against maritime crimes, the role played by Sri Lanka was praised by the participating countries.

When we scrutinise our journey, it is very much evident that the level of cooperation between two countries is in the formative stage. Since Seychelles is a member country within the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), Sri Lanka has the potential to reach vast African community through effective utilisation of its foot print in Seychelles. Reciprocally, Seychelles could develop its links to South Asia and South East Asia through Sri Lanka. What is needed is the effective identification of feasible areas for operation and maximising synergies to achieve desired targets.

On this historic year 2018, where we are celebrating 30 years of fruitful association of two nations, we have invited His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka to join the celebrations planned for October 2018. I am happy to note here that His Excellency has gladly accepted our invitation. Therefore, all of us could expect ever improvement of friendly relations between two nations generating many more opportunities for betterment and cherished memories.

 

Contributed

 

 

References

  1. Seychelles News Agency. (2017). Seychelles’ President pursues cooperation in tourism, agriculture, fisheries with Sri Lanka. Retrieved from : http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/6863/Seychelles+President+pursues+cooperation+in+tourism%2C+agriculture%2C+fisheries+with+Sri+Lanka
  2. Seychelles President visits specialist hospitals in Colombo. (2017). Daily FT, 28.02.2017. Retrieved from:

http://www.ft.lk/article/600309/Seychelles-President-visits-specialist-hospitals-in-Colombo

  1. Photo credit, 2 above: Joenna Bonnelame.

Retrieved from:

http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/6220/SriLankan+Airlines+makes+inaugural+flight+to+Seychelles

 

 

 

 

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