Honorary consuls’ conference gets under way today |26 October 2022

President Ramkalawan addressing the gathering yesterday evening at State House (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

• Official launch took place at State House yesterday evening

The four-day biennial honorary consuls’ conference gets under way this morning at the Savoy Resort and Spa, Beau Vallon.

The conference was officially launched by the Head of State, President Wavel Ramkalawan, at a cocktail reception yesterday evening at State House, attended by the cabinet of ministers, members of the diplomatic corps including all the honorary consuls, members of the National Assembly and other high government officials.

This year's edition is the first to be held in Seychelles since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the theme is ‘Harnessing Opportunities through Diplomatic Relations’.

When officially welcoming the honorary consuls to Seychelles, President Ramkalawan thanked them on behalf of the people and the government, for their incessant work for the country and its people.

He said that in their role as honorary consuls they are known for taking care of the Seychellois people living in the cities where they reside, but they also have a diplomatic role.

“This is where you spend quite a bit of your time promoting Seychelles, pushing its agenda forward be it looking for investors in the blue economy, be it defending the vulnerability of our country, or encouraging tourism,” said the president.

He added that it was through the consuls’ hard work and promotion that Seychelles was now on the way back to normality after the pandemic and the country had surpassed the projected tourism arrival numbers for the third quarter of 2022 and is expected to reach the 300,000 mark before the end of the year.

The head of state added that the government believed in working for its people and that is where the role of the consuls is also very important.

“You are helping us achieve the SDGs, to look at our people in new ways and to better understand how we can move forward,” he said.

Mr Ramkalawan said this week’s conference would be an opportunity for the honorary consuls to talk about their current projects and discuss others beneficial for Seychelles.

The discussions will include presentations from various sectors, such as blue economy, tourism and aaquaculture development, among others.

On Thursday, the consuls will be visiting the twenty-six districts around the country as part of a new initiative termed “Adopt a District” where they will choose a district and a project they would like to participate in. This is being done in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs. The visit will also enable them to understand the needs of the communities and create a partnership with their adopted districts.

“It is good that you will be in a position for you to share with our various districts how we can further enhance and strengthen the collaboration between where you are based and linking it with real people in the district be it Takamaka, Baie Lazare, Grand Anse Praslin or La Digue,” said President Ramkalawan.

On the final day of the conference on Friday, the consuls will be able to deliberate on their district visits and also provide their feedback on the various presentations and ways forward from the group discussions.