Finance minister meets CEOs of entities under his portfolio |30 May 2018

The newly appointed Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Maurice Loustau-Lalanne yesterday met chief executives and heads of entities falling under the portfolio of his ministry.

It is the first meeting of its kind held since Minister Loustau-Lalanne gained office and aimed at improving and formalising the networking and collaboration between the ministry and its entities.

There are currently 21 bodies that report to the ministry and these include both budget dependent entities and state owned enterprises such as the Seychelles Trading Company.

In attendance during yesterday’s meeting were the heads of budget-dependent and regulatory bodies such as the National Tender Boards, Procurement Over sight Unit, Public Enterprise Monitoring Commission (PEMC), Small Business Finance Agency, Seychelles Licensing Authority, Fair Trading Commission, Financial Services Authority (FSA), Seychelles Postal Services and the Financial Intelligence Unit.

“It was necessary to meet with these agencies to discuss issues such as my style of management so that they can understand right at the start how I would like to work,” explained Minister Loustau-Lalanne.

“I have indicated to them that I would be a minister who will spend time in the field to be more connected with investors and businesses in Seychelles so I can understand what are their challenges and inspirations.

Dominant on their agenda was the need to reinforce the communication and reporting line between the ministry and the agencies as well as with other stakeholders in order to improve service delivery.

“The idea is to better inform Seychellois, individuals and companies and this is especially important in light with the upcoming Access to Information Act which will legally require an institution to provide these information,” Minister Loustau- Lalanne added.

Also discussed during the meeting were updates on the implementation of the 2018 budget and preparation of upcoming 2019 budget.

Minister Loustau-Lalanne is expected to meet the boards and management of each of the 21 entities for further networking.

Additionally the ministry and agencies have agreed to meet on a quarterly basis.