Minister Hassan meets with the Secretary General of COMESA
August 31, 2021
The Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, has met with the Secretary General of COMESA, Chileshe Kapwepwe, on Tuesday 31st August, at Liberty House.
The courtesy call was a chance for Minister Hassan and the Secretary General to focus their attention on trade matters between the two sides.
Seychelles became a member state of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, (COMESA), in 2009.
Mrs. Kapwepwe said it is important for COMESA to assist its member states to recover from the COVID 19 pandemic.
“COMESA wants to support economic development of its member states, using trade as an anchor,” she said.
She explained that COMESA is working on harmonizing and modernizing trade regulations for its member states.
“My visit is a chance for Seychelles and COMESA to coordinate and harmonise common areas of interests.”
Minister Hassan briefed Mrs. Kapwepwe on the Seychelles economic situation in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic.
“The economy is now, in recovery mode, thanks to the vaccination program and the re-opening of the country.”
He said the pandemic has taught all countries the same lesson.
“We can no longer rely on only one economic sector, and that is why we need to diversify in order to safeguard our economy from any kind of shocks.”
Minister Hassan expressed his support for COMESA’s main goals of assisting small and medium entreprises, harmonizing trade regulations, encouraging development in the value added sector and creating value chain for businesses, because he said ‘they are align with what the government is doing.”
In the last few years, trade between Seychelles and the regional body has been on the rise.
In 2018, total export to COMESA member countries equate to $13 million, however export fell in 2020 to $9 million.
As for importation, the total value has continued to increase, from $36 million in 2018 to $50 million in 2020.
The delegation of Minister Hassan, included Seychelles Chief Negotiator – Trade Agreements, Mr. Charles Morin and the Director General for Economic Planning, Mr. Lenny Palit.
Below is the link of a photo of their meeting.
