VANILLA ISLANDS COOPERATION A REALITY NOW
(Posted 05th August 2016)
Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture was in Reunion Island earlier this week on a working visit with Ministers from the Indian Ocean Vanilla Islands Group. During his stay in Reunion Minister St.Ange used the opportunity to advance his work on developing cultural and tourism exchanges with Reunion.
Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles held separate meetings with Yoland Velleyen, the Interim Mayor of Saint Paul and also with Azeddine Bouali, the President of the Federation Reunnionnaise de Tourisme.
Following this working visit Seychelles and the town of Saint Paul in Reunion are now set to work on a joint cultural partnership with the Department of Culture and through that invite the Patrick Victor Cultural Foundation that was launched recently to be part of this new level of cooperation as representatives of the private sector trade in the arts.
During his official mission in Reunion, as part of Vanilla Islands Ministerial meeting Minister Alain St.Ange the Minister for Tourism and Culture from the Seychelles and Yoland Velleyen, the interim mayor of Saint Paul discussed joint cultural partnership between the town of Saint Paul and Seychelles.
Minister St Ange proposed the signing of a Cultural Memorandum of Understanding between the Culture Department of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the town of Saint Paul. ‘This bilateral agreement between the Culture Department of Seychelles and the town of Saint Paul will pave the way for cultural artistic collaborations and exchanges between the town of Saint Paul and the Seychelles‘ said Minister St.Ange.
Yoland Velleyen, the interim mayor of Saint Paul hailed the proposal of Minister St Ange to ink a cultural agreement between the town of Saint Paul and the Culture Department of Seychelles saying that the town of Saint Paul represents the ‘cradle of culture‘. Cultural relations are already growing steadily between Seychelles and Reunion Island and the signing of this MOU is scheduled to take place in Seychelles in the coming weeks. Ms. Bernadette Honore of the Seychelles Tourism Board’s Reunion Office was also present at this meeting.
A second MOU in the field of Tourism is set to be signed around the same time also in Seychelles between the Federation Reunnionnaise de Tourisme following the meeting held in St. Denis with Azeddine Bouali, the President of the Organisation. Under this MOU the Federation Reunnionnaise de Tourisme will attach some Information Office staff to the Seychelles Tourism Board’s Information Offices to be available for the meet and greet at Seychelles International Airport, at Victoria Harbour when a cruise ship is calling and at the Victoria Tourism Information Office. In return a number of the Seychelles Tourism Information office staff will also travel to Reunion for an attachment period.
A second part of this MOU will also look at the creative industry of Seychelles especially at the handicraft business to help offer new opportunities to the Seychelles handicraft small businesses.
Minister Alain St.Ange said, as he left Reunion to fly back to the Seychelles, that these two MOUs will bring direct benefits to the consolidation of the tourism industry of both Seychelles and Reunion.
