National Day expo set for June 16-18 |04 March 2013

Vice-President Danny Faure, who is also the chairman of the National Day celebrations committee, set the ball rolling for this event during a ceremony held on Friday at the Maison Football, Roche Caiman in the presence of prospective participants.

These include private companies, corporate organisations and small and medium enterprises.
The expo, which will run from 10am on June 16 until 4pm on June 18, will take place in and around the Roche Caiman Sports complex and inside the ex-SMB Hall, now used by the National Sports Council (NSC).

The expo will close just before the start of the main highlights of the National Day celebrations which is the parade and President James Michel’s address to the nation.

During the ceremony on Friday to launch preparations for the expo, Mr Faure urged everyone who can take part to join “as it is capital for Seychelles”, adding it is a unique opportunity for operators in tourism, industry, trade, civil society and other sectors to showcase themselves.

“For three exciting days they will all move from central Victoria to the expo – their new rendez-vous.
Vice-President Faure noted that there had been no national shows for the past two years and this year promises to be a special occasion as it marks the 20th anniversary of our Third Republic.
The coordinator of the important event, Michel Vielle, said this year’s expo promises to go beyond the usual celebrations.

He said it offers wide participation to all economic, social, sporting and cultural sectors to showcase their activity. For the new and small business ventures, he said, it offers free visibility and an opportunity to be wider known.

He noted that past expos had attracted some 20,000 visitors and it is believed that with lobbying and  better advertising, the turn-out will be higher this year.
Mr Vielle also noted that it provides an opportunity for entertainment for the family as a wide range of services and products will be on show.

Registration for participants will start on April 1, with the deadline set for end of April, by which time it will be just one a half months to the National Day celebrations.

Mr Vielle said that organisations like the Small Enterprises Promotion Agency (Senpa), the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), the Seychelles Agricultural Agency (SAA) and other similar organisations will be responsible for coordinating registrations among operators that they represent.

They will be responsible to the National Coordination Committee, chaired by Alain Volcère and assisted by Antoine-Marie Moustache.

Mr Vielle said stalls will have to be paid in advance once the registration forms are handed in, after which group site inspections will be organised.
There will be three stall categories, for both inside the NSC (former SMB) hall and outside in and around  the garden of the Roche Caiman sports complex.

The smallest stall will be 3 by 3 metres and will cost a flat R2,500 inside the hall for the three-day duration of the expo, compared to R500 for one of similar size outside.
The medium stalls -- 5 by 5 metres -- will cost R5,000 inside and R2,500 outside, while the big 10 by 10- metre stalls shall be R10,000 both inside and outside.
 
Mr Vielle said items like electricity, water supply, security and other costs have all been factored in.

All participants will have from June 10 to 15 to bring in their exhibits, after which none will be accepted to avoid any inconvenience to members of the public visiting the expo.
Participants will be allocated stalls on a first-come first-served basis. 

Those wishing to  have more than one stand will have to wait and may obtain that, depending on whether there are vacant stalls or not.