Tourism, marine time security and jobs, Kenya hosts Seychelles president and Identity areas of cooperation

President Uhuru Kenyatta today held bilateral talks with Seychelles President, Danny Faure to discuss areas of cooperation.

Faure who is in Kenya for a state visit was accorded full state honours including a 21 gun salute and later inspected a guard of honour mounted by a detachment of the Kenya Army while the national anthems of Kenya and Seychelles were played by the military band.

“Received Seychelles President, H.E. DannyFaure at the start of his State Visit in our country” Uhuru tweeted.

After the necessities were done with, the two heads of state then held talks on how to forge closer ties in areas of mutual interest.

Possible areas of cooperation include maritime security, trade, tourism and job opportunities just to name but a few.

“Seychelles has been importing meat & poultry from Elsewhere but now we want to start importing meat and poultry from Kenya” said President Faure.

Kenya and Seychelles are both struggling with drug trafficking menace, early this year seven suspected drug barons including two South African and two Seychellois were arrested in Mombasa and later extradited to their home country.

Sharing of intelligence and capacity building measures was noted as one way of cooperation between the two countries to deal with drug trafficking.

Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner for Kenya and Seychelles and the two countries share similar product – beach tourism therefore both countries stand to benefit as there are various opportunities of cooperation in the sector.

Tourism is the most important non-government sector of Seychelles’ economy, about 15 percent of the formal work force is directly employed in tourism and employment in construction, banking, transportation, and other activities is closely tied to the tourist industry.

Sharing of best practices, exchange programmes, joint marketing strategies and joint packaging of the destinations are untapped areas the two countries can delve into.

On employment opportunities, Seychelles is in demand for well-trained and skilled human capital for employment in various sectors of its economy; Kenyans are therefore encouraged to seek employment opportunities in the Indian Ocean Island.