Dialogue between Secretary-general of China-Afica Industrial Forum Cheng Zhigang and  Philippe le Gall, the Ambassador of  Republic of Seychelles to China

  

On the morning of September 16th, 2009, Secretary-general of China-Africa Industrial Cooperation and Development Forum Cheng Zhigang came to the republic of Seychelles embassy and had a dialogue with its ambassador, Philippele Gall.

 

The ambassador gave us a warm reception and a brief introduction to the republic of Seychelles.

 

Seychelles is an island nation located in the western Indian Ocean.  It consists of  115  islands, and  the largest is  Mahe Island with  an area of 148 square kilometers. Blue sky, clear water, sun, sand, sea breeze ... ... Seychelles has everything that an island nation should have, and known as "tourist paradise."

 

Mr. Ambassador  said that in November 2006, President James • Michel paid a state visit to China. President Hu Jintao said "the relationship between China and the Seychelles is a good example  between big developing countries and small developing countries.  In February 2007, President Hu Jintao paid a return visit to  Seychelles in order to further deepen bilateral friendship and cooperation. 

 

In November 2008, at the invitation of the  President of the Republic of Seychelles James Alix • • Mitchell and head of the National Assembly Patrick Herminie, China's National People's Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo had a three -day official friendly  visit to the republic of Seychelles.

 

China's top leaders made a high appraisal  of  the development of  the  relation  between Seychelles and China in recent years,, and hoped that they could  achieve greater progress through mutual beneficial cooperation  .

 

Since the 33 anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, we have gained great achievements. This kind of friendship is not only limited to government high-level visits. The two countries' people have established a profound friendship.

 

Coincided with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of People's Republic of China , Mr. Ambassador, expressed their good wishes to us Chinese people. He said that it was an important moment for both Chinese people and other countries and people which have a friendly relationship with China

 

Mr. Cheng expressed his gratitude to the ambassador’s wishes and raised a few questions as follows.

 

Mr. Cheng:  would you please give us a brief introduction to Seychelles and its features?

 

Ambassador: Seychelles is located  in the Indian Ocean and composed of  115 small islands with land area of 455 square kilometers. Beijing Chaoyang District covers an area of 475 square kilometers, so Seychelles is a small country. China has a history of 5,000 years, while the Republic of Seychelles  only  has  a  history of 250 years before the independence. Seychelles has a lot of crocodiles, turtles, etc., and  successively  became France and  British colony.

 

Since then, people from Middle East, India, including China went to  Seychelles one after another.

 

In contrast, Seychelles is  a relatively young country. Seychelles declared independence in 1976 and established  the Republic of Seychelles. Seychelles is a multi-ethnic and pluralistic state.  There are African descent, European descent, and Asian descent. Seychelles has  a highly developed and harmonious society. There are no wars, no warlords, and it has reached more than 30 years of political stability. The local ethnic Chinese communities exist  for  150 years, which are  small but very active group.

 

Seychelles is very rich in species. There are more than 10 million species of birds, 15 thousand species of turtles. Its population is 85 thousand. The reason why we first refer to birds and turtles is that Seychelles is a country of birds, a paradise on earth. Each year we receive at least 150 thousand  visitors, and strictly controll the number at less than 200 thousand. Too many visitors will be a big  burden to  the local ecological environment and is  not conducive to sustainable development of tourism.

 

We hoped to promote the Seychelles tourism projects in China . As far as I know, every year there are 50 million Chinese  tourists  participating in the outbound travel, but less than one thousand choose Seychelles as the destination. On October 13, 2009, we will hold the Seychelles tourism seminar that aims to enable Chinese tourists to know more about Seycehlles tourism.  By then, the  president of Seychelles Chamber of Commerce will attend the meeting ,  so do the tourism experts and scholars and  China's tourism industry association officials . Secretary-General , Mr. Cheng, was also invited to attend this seminar.

 

Seychelles is one of the world's  relatively expensive tourist destination, but it is certainly worth it. Seychelles is indeed a paradise, which has natural scenery far away from human being,  hospitable and multi-cultural people , where visitors can enjoy a variety of water sports. Therefore, Seychelles, compared with the other resorts ,has its  own advantages and characteristics.

 

Seychelles has two nature reserves that have been listed by UNESCO as World Cultural and Natural Heritage . One is "Mayer Valley," which has palm trees forests in its protected region, which are very close to its original state. The other is  "Aldabra Island", which is also known as "the world's largest turtle kingdom," because there are  about 150 thousand drought turtles  live in  this island. These drought turtle are huge in size, 2 m or more in length and weighing over 200 kilograms, due to the huge size, it is also known as " a giant tortoise." Seychelles consider  the  turtle as a symbol of the longstanding friendship between  two countries. At 2010 Shanghai World Exposition, the Chinese friends will have the opportunity to see tortoises from Seychelles.

 

The tourism industry is the largest economic pillar of  Seychelles,  while fishing is another one. Seychelles has a  vast sea,  and the exclusive maritime economic zone area is  about one million square kilometers. Seychelles  is rich in fishing resources, especially tuna.  We  catch  300,000 tons of tuna per year, some of which  are transported to the canning factory, made in  high-quality canned tuna, others  are exported to Japan and European countries. At present, we hope to develop the third-largest  economic sector  - overseas company service.

 

Seychelles International Business Department introduces a set of progressive laws facilitating the establishment of overseas companies and other organizations to encourage the importation of investment.

 

International Business Companies Act (1994) is similiar to the Bahamas Islands International Business Companies Act .

 

Ambassador: What is the difference between China-Africa industrial cooperation and development forum and other forums?

 

Secretary-general:  Under the guidance of State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and organized by China Industrial Cooperation Association, China-Africa Industrial cooperation and development forum is aimed at promoting the development of trade between China and Africa and has been supported by many international organizations. In terms of the number of the participants or the situation of the participating countries, it is a significant forum. It  will be held on November 21, 2009 at the Beijing National conference Center.

 

Ambassador: How many African ambassadors  participating in this forum?

 

Secretary-general: Ambassadors from 49 African countries which have established diplomatic relationships with China have received our invitation, more than 20 of whom  have confirmed their participation and others will confirm later.

 

Ambassador: Can every ambassador have the opportunity of making a speech? Or it is just like a business exhibition, every country needs to show the characteristics of its country through exhibitive platform? how long is the forum?

 

Secretary-general: Every African ambassador will have the opportunity to introduce their country . The forum lastS for three days, including the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony. The ambassador will make a speech at the opening ceremony.

 

Ambassador: What is the form of  the speech? An overview of the national situation? Or give a brief introduction about the related enterprises?

 

Secretary-general: Various sectors of enterprises will attend the forum at the opening ceremony. The speech is an overview of the national situation. Then we will gather the  statistics and arrange the enterprises and the ambassadors of different countries to communicate directly.

 

Secretary-general: Which item can we invest in Seychelles?

 

Ambassador: First, tourism real estate projects, such as hotels, etc.  In addition, fishery projects. we  welcome  Chinese enterprises to  invest  directly or set up a joint venture to develop  fishery resources. Also, the Seychelles has a natural deep water port, international shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean,  which is an important transport hub in the Indian Ocean. Seychelles enjoys the political stability, and people are hospitable. The annual average temperature is 22 - 32 ° C, and Seychelles  is  free from the typhoons, hurricanes hit. It owns  a unique investment environment, and it is an excellent base for Chinese enterprises to enter the African market.

 

Finally , Mr. Cheng discussed the details of the forum with the ambassador and they indicated that they would  maintain the long-term contact to promote the bilateral trade cooperation.