The Minister of the State for African Countries Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, H.E. Mr. Ahmed A. A. Kattan, arrived in Seychelles on 9th June 2021. The purpose of his visit was to personally convey a message of congratulations on behalf of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, H.R.H Mohammed bin Salman to the President of the Republic of Seychelles, Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan, following the Presidential election results in 2020. Due to the travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trip has only been able to materialise now.
In line with his working visit, the Saudi Minister paid a courtesy call on Minister Radegonde at the Botanical House on Thursday 10th June 2021. The Seychelles Foreign Minister and his delegation comprising of the Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Mr. Naadir Hassan and high governmental officials discussed ways to further develop the bilateral relations between the two countries in various areas.
Both parties discussed various priority projects for consideration under the Saudi Arabia Development Fund, which Seychelles has previously benefitted from. The Saudi Arabian Minister also announced that Saudi Arabia will make available 1 billion American dollars towards the African continent to facilitate African countries with various projects. The delegation also spoke of investment opportunities in Seychelles that could be beneficial to both countries. .
The meeting ended on a positive note with a declaration from Minister Radegonde:
“We are delighted that a couple of weeks from now, we will have direct air link between our two countries. This will facilitate better exchanges between our two peoples and make us better understand each other in order to create that friendship and cooperation for us to go forward.”
FLYNAS, a Saudi Arabian airline, will start operating direct flights to Seychelles three times per week from the 1st of July 2021. Minister Radegonde commended this initiative and said that this would provide more rapid transportation of both visitors and Seychelles nationals in Saudi Arabia to Seychelles and also generate economic growth for the country.
Also present were the Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Vivianne Fock Tave, Secretary of State for Finance, Mr. Patrick Payet, Principal Secretary for Tourism, Mrs. Sherin Francis, Director General for Bilateral Affairs, Ms. Lindy Ernesta and Project Coordinator, Mr. Terrence Malbrook.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Seychelles
