March 28, 2011 -- President James Michel today launched the first Smart Partnership National Dialogue, which is being held in collaboration between the Seychelles Government, the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management (CPTM), the University of Seychelles and other local partners, under the theme "Seychelles2020 - Making it Happen".

The two-day dialogue meeting is set within the context of the theme of the Seychelles2020 EXPO, "Touching The Future".

"Touching The Future", reflects our vision for the New Seychelles - a vision that I shared with the people of Seychelles since I assumed the presidency. Every Seychellois is part of this vision; every Seychellois can make it happen. Together, we can all be joint architects to make the future a reality, to transform Seychelles into the jewel of our dream. Together, we can all win for Seychelles!, " said President Michel.

He President invited the participants of the dialogue to bring in their experience in the fields in which they excel, their values and skills with a view to contributing their ideas for the transformation of the society, as concerned citizens or partners of Seychelles and joint architects in the transformation of Seychelles, for the long term.

"The Expo encapsulates a vision. The dialogue articulates this vision, processes and analyzes it and once it reaches a consensus, proposes a road map.  As I see it, Seychelles2020 Expo is about change and the transformation of our society in the form of the vivid presentation of our vision for the next decade. It is about winning for Seychelles. On the other hand, the dialogue is all about the dynamics, the process, the engineering required to bring about the change and the transformation," said President Michel.

The President requested participants to consider some of these stimulating questions:

- Where are our strengths and weaknesses and how best do we turn our weaknesses into strengths? 

- What are the opportunities and threats?

- What are the challenges? 

- How best do we apply the latest scientific and technological progress in the world to effect the transformation of our society? 

- Have we taken the right steps yet to prepare for disasters in every shape and form?

- How do we use our spiritual, cultural and social values to create a happier and more prosperous society? 

- What are the best practices that we can benchmark ourselves against in our quest for the transformation that we aspire to in 2020? 

The President said that after the dialogue, the country would move into action and that this would propel Seychelles into a constructive transformation of society.

"We have a bright and prosperous future ahead. With hard work, discipline and resilience we can do great things together. We can do great things for Seychelles and we can win for Seychelles. This I am convinced," said the President.

President Michel informed the participants the National Development Strategy (NDS) would be launched tomorrow. The NDS complements Seychelles2020 Expo and it will use the Expo as a platform for consultations on the NDS.