The President of Seychelles, H.E. Danny Antoine Rollen Faure headed a high level delegation of 23 members on an official visit to Mauritius from 26th to 28th October 2017.

It is to be noted that the Presidential visit was preceded by the meeting of the 12th session of the Seychelles-Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation held on 23rd October 2017, during which a new roadmap of cooperation has been elaborated for next two years, and that the two sides also took the opportunity of this visit to sign the agreed minutes of that meeting. Mauritius and Seychelles leveraged on the Presidential visit to firmly consolidate their bilateral relations further and the two sides signed five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), namely:

• (i) MoU on cooperation in the field of management of operations and staff training between the Mauritius Prison Service and the Seychelles Prison Service;
• (ii) MoU between the Government of Mauritius and the Government of Seychelles regarding a twinning relationship between the island of Rodrigues and the City of Victoria;
• (iii) MoU regarding the collaboration between the Seychelles National Human Resource Development and the Mauritius Human Resource Development Council;
• (iv) MoU on Health cooperation whereby Mauritius is looking forward to an early implementation of the MoU in order to fast-track the recruitment of Mauritian doctors by Seychelles; and
• (v) MoU on recruitment of Mauritian teachers and other specialists in the education sector of Mauritius to work in Seychelles.

The Mauritius side highlighted that both countries face common challenges in the areas of international trade andBrexitand can join hands to face such challenges. The Mauritius side affirmed that it will leverage on its current position as chairman of the Indian Ocean Commissionto support Seychelles and neighbouring countries in combating regional adversities such as drug trafficking, piracy and illegal fishing.

On its part, the Seychelles side commented on the vibrant and mutually beneficial relations and the strong friendship existing between Mauritius and Seychelles. It added that the common commitments taken by the two countries will take bilateral relations to new heights and that Seychelles will nurture collaboration and collective actions.