The new High Commissioner of Mozambique to the Republic of Seychelles, H.E. Mr. Paulino José Macaringue, presented his credentials to President James Michel in a ceremony held at State House today.

President Michel congratulated the new High Commissioner and said that the Government of Seychelles is looking forward to promote a more active partnership with Mozambique as well as at the level of SADC and the African Union.

During their meeting, the President and High Commissioner Macaringue discussed how Seychelles and Mozambique could consolidate their cooperation and the aspiration to open new avenues of economic cooperation and development in the fields of tourism, fisheries, culture, people to people contacts and trade among others.

After the accreditation ceremony, High Commissioner Macaringue told the national media that during his mandate he intends to identify areas of cooperation that can bring Seychelles and Mozambique closer.

"With the historical links amongst our people, you will recall that some the people of Seychelles are to be found also in Mozambique, where we share the same past. We do have a memorandum of cooperation that we would like now to make it quick and identify additional areas of cooperation; be it in tourism, infrastructure development, maritime surveillance, the management of the environment, where we share similar challenges. In the areas of maritime safety, for instance, piracy is also our challenge, transnational criminalities like drug trafficking, money laundering, the management of the islands. So, all these will present and develop a firm basis for us to develop projects and improve our cooperation,” said High Commissioner Macaringue.

High Commissioner Paulino José Macaringue is based in Pretoria, South Africa.

Also, present during the meeting were the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, Joel Morgan and the President's Diplomatic Adviser, Ambassador Callixte d'Offay.