July 21, 2010 -- Representatives of the chambers of commerce and industry of Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles called on President James A Michel at State House yesterday.

Mr Marday Venkatasamy of Mauritius, Mr Pascal Plante of Reunion, Mr Dolor Ernesta of Seychelles and other officials of the commerce and industry bodies  are meeting with the aim of forging closer working ties.

The promotion of regional tourism, whereby visitors are encouraged to visit the three countries together as a package, is one of their aims.

An economic forum is being organized to take place in Seychelles from October 19 to 21.

Mr Venkatasamy said: "It is our aim to build a strong private sector organisation in the region and we hope to boost tourism. We want to get tourism agencies to work together so as to increase the number of visitors to the region."

He added that regional economic and commercial integration will be one of the themes of the forum, the other being sustainable regional co-development.