New national trade information website launched |22 June 2009

The new website was launched by the chief negotiator for the World Trade Organisation, Charles Morin, during a ceremony at Liberty House in Victoria.

Alongside the launch a protocol d’accord was signed between the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), which is the focal point for hosting the national website, and the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), which hosts the regional website.

Nicole Tirant-Gerhardi signed the agreement on behalf of the SCCI, while the MCCI was represented by assistant to the secretary-general Faeeza Ibrahimshah.

Present at the launch were representatives of the IOC secretariat, the Ministry of Finance, the SCCI and other partners involved in the project.

The IOC has been working to set up a national/regional trade information network whereby each member state will have its own website giving information on trade and investment opportunities, business profiles and trade statistics.

One facet of the project, which has been ongoing since 2006, is to set up the trade information and data portal that will give the IOC region a window on the world.

The software developed for this purpose by the International Trade Centre was officially presented to representatives of all the IOC member states involved in the project during a workshop in Mauritius in July 2008.

The websites will target government ministries, departments and agencies dealing with trade and industry, importers, exporters, manufacturers and foreign investors.

The objectives of the project are to:

• Provide a platform to spread and exchange business and trade information;

• Enable traders from any IOC member state to identify new markets for finished products and raw materials in other member states;

• Provide easy access to national and international sources of information;

• Raise national awareness of opportunities within the regional market so as to exploit them fully;

• Increase the visibility of small and medium enterprises;
 
• Strengthen international trade competitiveness.

The other partners involved in Seychelles are the Ministries of Finance (Trade Division) and National Development, the Small Enterprise Promotion Agency, the Seychelles Investment Bureau and the National Statistics Bureau.