FECAS - ECSVS Forum

Vice-President Faure attends AU summit

30-January-2015
Vice-President Danny Faure will be representing President James Michel at the 24th African Union (AU) summit for Vice-President Faureheads of state and government which opens today at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The theme of the summit is ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063’, marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform of Action 1995.

The overall objective of the summit will be to define strategic actions to fully support women capacity building and access to full involvement in political and economic decision-making.

The vice-president will be accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Paul Adam; Seychelles’ ambassador to Ethiopia and permanent representative of the African Union, Joseph Nourrice.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244362

African islands stand united at AU summit

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244357

Seychelles to boost ties with Ethiopia
http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244355

Minister Adam holds talks with Ethiopian counterpart

31-January-2015
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam has held talks with Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Dr Tedros Adhanom on the sidelines of the 26th African Union executive council meeting taking place in Addis Ababa.

Dr Tedros noted that Ethiopia and Seychelles have huge potential in tourism and underlined the need to build strong cooperation to tap the potential of the sector.

He underlined that Ethiopia and Seychelles could enhance cooperation in the areas of tourism, trade and investment.

He added that Ethiopian Airlines’ flight to Seychelles paves the way to boost the bilateral relationship between two nations.

Dr Tedros pointed out that the two countries’ leadership need to work closely in exploring opportunities of cooperation to benefit the peoples of the two nations.

Minister Adam appreciated Ethiopia’s strong commitment and continued effort in regional and global security issues, particularly in addressing security concerns of Eastern Africa and Africa in general.
The minister also pointed out that the decrease in piracy rate along the coast of Somalia is partly due to Ethiopia’s effort to realise stable Somalia by dislodging Alshabaab, adding that Seychelles has benefited from the reduction of piracy incidents along the Somali coast.

Minister Adam said that Ethiopia’s diverse ethnic groups, religion and culture, language and rich history reflect the huge tourism potential of this country.

He underlined that Ethiopia and Seychelles could work together in coordinating tourism activities to maximise the benefit the sector provides.

Noting that Ethiopian coffee has been reaching Seychelles market, he underlined the need to expand more economic ties between two countries.

He also said that bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Seychelles should be strengthened in people to people relation through cultural exchange.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244369

Bernard Georges appointed judge to Comesa Court of Justice

31-March-2015
Well-known legal practitioner Bernard Georges is the first Seychellois to be appointed Judge to the Court of Justice of the CommonMr Georges Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) by the heads of state and government of the authority during their 18th summit meeting being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mr Georges was elected as one of the twelve judges to the Court of Justice during the meeting of the ministers of justice of the organisation on March 4 in Khartoum, Sudan. His term of office is for a period of five years and will begin in July 2015.

The Court of Justice is an institution created to uphold the rule of law in the interpretation and application of the Comesa Treaty. In particular, the Treaty provides for a dispute settlement mechanism in the framework of international trade. Over the years, litigants from both the public and private sectors of the Comesa region have taken their disputes to the Court of Justice for resolution and settlement.

The Court will henceforth be permanently based in Khartoum, Sudan. The building housing the Court was inaugurated on March 5, 2015. The Court will meet on an ad-hoc basis, as and when there will be cases to be heard.

Seychelles was also honoured yesterday at the Summit with the appointment of George Tirant, chief executive of the Fair Trading Commission, as board member of the Comesa Commission for Competition.

The re-election of the Founding President of Seychelles, James Mancham, to the Committee of Elders for a four-year period during the meeting of Foreign Affairs on March 28, was also endorsed by the Summit yesterday (see separate story on page 3).

The Seychelles delegation to the Summit is being headed by Vice-President Danny Faure.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244967

Vice-President Faure attends Comesa Authority Summit

31-March-2015
Vice-President Danny Faure is representing the Seychelles head of state, James Alix Michel, at the 18th Summit of the ComesaVice-President Faure Authority of heads of state and government being held at the African Union Commission headquarters in Addis Ababa, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialisation’ and its main aim is to address industrialisation in a holistic way.
Discussions will focus on all factors that influence and impact on industrialisation such as infrastructure.

The vice-president is accompanied by Hans Aglaé, his special advisor; Ambassador Barry Faure, secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Joseph Nourrice, ambassador of the Republic of Seychelles to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Claude Morel, high commissioner of the Republic of Seychelles to the Republic of South Africa.

The Comesa (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) Authority comprises the heads of state and government of the different Comesa member countries.

It is the supreme policy-making organ and is responsible for the general policy direction and control of the performance of the executive functions of Comesa.

It is headed by an elected chairperson for an agreed period.

The current chairperson is Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=244968

Seychelles reaffirms strong positions at Comesa summit

07-April-2015
Vice-President FaureVice-President Danny Faure has strongly reaffirmed Seychelles’ position on key issues at the 18th Comesa (Common Market for Southern African) summit held on March 30, 2015 in Addis Abba, Ethiopia.

Mr Faure echoed Seychelles’ unwavering support for the launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) scheduled to take place this year in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, but requested for more flexibility for the rules of origin, specially pertaining to fisheries.

He also made a strong appeal for consolidated move towards a full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Commission, despite the different levels of readiness of member states.

To this end, the vice-president invited the Comesa secretariat to become more involved in offering help to all member states, to ensure a smooth transition for all countries involved.

The vice-president also congratulated the PTA Bank for its prominent role in strengthening intra-regional trade and driving economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa by providing finance for infrastructure projects and easing trade.

He concluded that as one of Comesa’s institutions, member states should be proud of its excellent performance over the last year, and the strong support it has shown both within the region and globally, as shareholders and institutional investors continue to invest in the Bank, including the Seychelles Pension Fund as an investor.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=245017