The Seychelles and the European Union have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening economic and development cooperation, with key discussions late Friday on trade, taxation and infrastructure.
During a high-level meeting between Seychellois Foreign Minister Sylvestre Radegonde and EU ambassador Oskar Benedikt, the two sides discussed the ongoing rehabilitation and extension of Port Victoria, a flagship project supported by the EU under the 2024 European Solidarity Action Plan with Seychelles.
The initiative aims to modernise the country’s principal maritime gateway, enhancing its capacity for trade and regional connectivity.
The two sides also reviewed progress in negotiations to expand the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) grouping.
The Seychelles (together with Mauritius, Madagascar and Zimbabwe) signed an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) with the EU in 2009.
The agreement has been provisionally applied since May 2012. The Comoros ratified the ESA EPA in February 2019 and began applying the agreement immediately.
The ESA iEPA provides duty-free, quota-free access to EU markets for participating countries.
For their part, ESA-EPA countries are progressively reducing their tariffs to zero for 80 percent or more of their EU imports.
Under the iEPA, the Seychelles has liberalised 98 percent of its tariff lines under the agreement, while retaining protections for sensitive sectors such as fisheries and agriculture.
The iEPA is being revised to broaden its scope beyond goods to include services, investment and sustainable development provisions.
Tax cooperation also featured prominently in the meeting, with Radegonde and Benedikt discussing Seychelles’ efforts to be removed from the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
The Seychelles government has pledged to align its fiscal frameworks with international standards to safeguard its financial reputation.
The upcoming presidential and legislative elections were briefly addressed, with both parties underscoring the importance of democratic stability in sustaining development partnerships.
JN/APA