Two Seychellois ambassadors accredited |10 March 2007
Noellie Alexander, Seychelles High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, presented her credentials to President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday March 8 in Cape Town. Ms Alexander will be based in Pretoria, in line with Government’s decision to re-open its diplomatic representation there.
Seychelles and the Netherlands established diplomatic relations on April 19, 1977. The Netherlands, ranked 12th worldwide on Human Development Index, is one of the richest countries in the world and provides substantial development assistance to developing countries.
Until Seychelles was removed from the list of countries eligible for official development assistance (because of the classical criteria of GDP per capita used by international development and financial organizations), Seychelles benefited from Dutch scholarships, training and small embassy projects. Through multilateral programmes, Seychelles can still benefit indirectly from Dutch international cooperation. An example is the World Bank-administered Environment Trust Fund, which benefits from the Dutch Trust Fund. Through this Fund, Seychelles has been able to finance programmes for the management of the coastal ecosystems, establishment of biodiversity protection reserves and institutional support.
On the other hand, trade barely exists between the two countries, whilst tourism figures show a low number of visitors (under 2000 in 2005), pointing to two areas where there are clear opportunities for development.
During his first working mission to The Hague, Ambassador Faure also met with the President of the Senate and high-ranking officials of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on November 8, 1993, the relations between Seychelles and South Africa have continued to prosper in a number of strategic and mutually beneficial areas, particularly through the signing of different agreements in the fields of Air Services, Education, Health, and Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion.
Last January, the two countries also signed a General Cooperation Agreement which foresees the establishment of a Bilateral Joint Commission.
South Africa remains one of the most important trading partners for Seychelles.
In the tourism sector, the number of South African investments in Seychelles has increased during the recent years. These include Eden Island Residential Resort & Marina, Helicopter Seychelles, Paradise Sun, among others.
After the signature of an Air Services Agreement between the two countries in January 1996, Air Seychelles has been operating a weekly flight to and from Johannesburg.