Day: April 3, 2023

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Seychelles and Mauritius discuss common interests at 13th bilateral cooperation commission

Seychelles and Mauritius must have a more integrated approach for addressing jointly emerging global issues of common concerns and interests on important international platforms, said a top official at the opening of the 13th Session of the Commission on Bilateral Cooperation.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the 13th Session, hhich is taking place in Seychelles, started on Monday at the senior officials level.

In her opening remarks, the Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs and co-chair of the session, Ambassador Vivianne Fock Tave, said that “our partnership is solid, unwavering, nurtured over the years, based on values and interests that we share. And our meeting this week, will allow us to further consolidate and enhance this partnership.”

Fock Tave said that the two countries should aim to achieve tangible results.

“We have an obligation, therefore, to be more committed to not only the implementation of the decisions that we will agree upon during our deliberations but to also take bolder, more innovative measures to build a new paradigm of mutually beneficial, forward-looking cooperation initiatives,” she added.

She highlighted that Seychelles and Mauritius have common interests and concerns at both regional and international levels and it is, therefore, important to have a more integrated approach.

“It is only by working closely together can we ensure that their agendas are supportive of and complement our development agendas,” she added.

Ravindranath Sawmy, head of the Bilateral Africa Directorate in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius, stressed the need to “formulate joint strategies, explore new areas of cooperation, amplify our voices in promoting the interests of SIDS and advancing collective economic development.”

The co-chair said that with the support from our regional partners, “we can work towards making a positive contribution to the work of the United Nation Security Council and promoting global peace and security while also raising the concerns of the SIDS.”

The Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, which takes place every two years, is a platform where discussions focus on strengthening and expanding on cooperation between the two countries.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties, that last met in Port Louis in 2017, had to postpone their meeting until 2023.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

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Fitch Ratings: Seychelles’ credit rating remains at BB-

Seychelles’ credit ratings remain at ‘BB-‘ with a stable outlook from Fitch Ratings 2023, reflecting solid tourism recovery, stable growth prospects, low inflation and stable economic framework of the country.

According to the Ratings released on Friday, “Seychelles’ tourism sector recorded a solid recovery in 2022, with tourist arrivals surging by 82 percent year-on-year and reaching 86.4 percent of 2019 levels.”

Fitch warns that global economic uncertainty and competition from other high-end tourism destinations should lead to a slowdown in visitor growth to an estimated 5 percent in 2023-2024.

However, despite continued visitor growth, Fitch expects “tourism receipts will decline by about 14 percent in 2023 and 7 percent in 2024, reaching 41.3 percent of GDP, given the expected tapering in arrivals of high-spending tourists from Russia and other countries. There is upside from a larger than expected fall in oil prices – translating into lower airfares – and shallower than projected recessions in major European economies.”

On the stable growth prospects, Fitch said that following real economic growth of 8.9 percent in 2022, it expects growth of 3.6 percent in 2023 and 4.2 percent in 2024, as tourism growth normalises.

It projects medium-term growth of about 4 percent and sees an upside mainly from investment, which has lagged in recent years due to execution challenges, rather than a boost to productivity or the labour force.

On inflation, the Ratings said a trend of currency appreciation since mid-2021 led to inflation falling to 2.6 percent on average in 2022 compared to 9.8 percent in 2021.

While macroeconomic and monetary policy is stable and largely predictable, in Fitch’s view, transmission of monetary policy is somewhat constrained by the high levels of dollarisation in the economy.

Fitch expects Seychelles’ current account deficit to continue to decline to 3.9 percent of GDP in 2023 and 3.5 percent in 2024 as tourism inflows continue to normalise. However, Seychelles’ exceptionally high reliance on tourism for foreign exchange inflows, and heavy reliance on imports for most basic goods, remain a key weakness.

As for vulnerabilities, Fitch said Seychelles is heavily exposed to risks from rising sea levels, although a significant impact will likely only be felt in the medium to long term.

“In the short term, Seychelles’ tourism industry faces constraints in expansion due to the saturation of coastal infrastructure, and various risks of environmental and biodiversity degradation. Climate-change adaptation measures are currently not factored into fiscal planning, although Seychelles receives technical assistance from international bodies in this regard,” it added.

The highest ever Fitch Ratings for Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, was a grade of BB, in 2019.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

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