Seychelles and Cyprus explore ways to boost cooperation |13 October 2011

The Seychelles delegation at this joint commission comprised officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Seychelles Tourism Board.

It was headed by Jeannette D’Offay, acting principal secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The major highlights of this commission include the memorandum of understanding in the fields of public health and medical science that the two countries are expected to sign so that Seychelles could benefit from Cypriot expertise in this domain, the bilateral air service agreement that will be negotiated between the two countries and the memorandum of understanding that the Seychelles Tourism Academy will be signing with the Higher Hotel Institute of Cyprus.

At the signing of the Protocol of the 2nd Joint Commission, Mrs D’Offay, underlined the importance of such frameworks like the Joint Commission, indicating that it is “a valuable platform for exchanges and dialogue, for assessing the results achieved in the cooperation programme between the two countries and for setting more focused future priorities”.

While emphasising the common history that exists between Seychelles and Cyprus with the exile in 1956 of Archbishop Makarios III, who later became the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mrs D’Offay also underscored the need for the two countries to actively work together towards establishing a shared future and the commitment of the government of Seychelles in this process.

The government of Cyprus, who was represented by George Georgiou, permanent secretary of the Planning Bureau in the Ministry of Finance, expressed the keen interest of Cyprus in consolidating the relations with Seychelles through mutually beneficial initiatives.

The third session of the Cyprus-Seychelles Joint Intergovernmental Commission is set to take place in Victoria, Seychelles in 2014.

Diplomatic relation between Seychelles and Cyprus was established in July 1976.
Since the signing in 1998 of the Agreement on Long-term Economic, Scientific, Technical and Industrial Cooperation, the joint commission has become the principal vehicle to establish and follow-up on the various cooperation issues that exist between Seychelles and Cyprus.

The First Session of the Seychelles-Cyprus joint commission took place in Seychelles in 2008.