17th June 2010 -- President James Michel has held talks with the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, who is in Seychelles on an official visit. Mr Sharma is the guest of honour at the 18th June National Day celebrations.

President Michel and Secretary General Sharma discussed the forms of strategic cooperation between the Commonwealth and the Seychelles in the fields of education, youth enterprise, judicial capacity-building, the constitutional review process, media standards, human rights and the public service.

" The Commonwealth has been an excellent partner in our development. It has provided support in capacity building, technical expertise and funding, and I believe this partnership will grow even stronger with the visit of Mr. Sharma," said President Michel.

" The Secretary General spoke to me about the Commonwealth's youth enterprise schemes in banks in India and Africa. They are good model for empowering the youth. We have instituted similar government schemes in Seychelles and they have been a great success. Now we can work with the private sector to encourage this as a mainstream activity in the banking sector."

On his part Secretary-General Sharma commended the progress Seychelles has made in its economic reforms.

"Seychelles has done remarkably well for itself. If you look at the indicators of financial health and the reports that the IMF has given, it's one of the most successful stories of managing your finances... the professionalism with which your public responsibilities are being looked at,  all of these are very encouraging, said Mr Sharma.

He said the Commonwealth would continue to develop avenues of cooperation with Seychelles.

"It was particularly beneficial to me to learn of what the expectation of small states are and what more can be done by the Commonwealth... We are very happy to be partners with the Seychelles."
The Commonwealth Secretary General also had a meeting with the Vice-President Joseph Belmont, and a meeting with the members of the Cabinet to discuss future cooperation and assistance.