President Danny Faure chaired a scheduled meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday 19th December, at which a number of legal and policy memoranda were considered.
Cabinet was briefed on the findings of the study conducted by Central Bank on Government Payments. Cabinet also endorsed recommendations made to improve the payments environment, especially the progression to electronic payments.
Cabinet approved a new policy and strategy on Islamic Banking and Finance. This policy and strategy is part of the Financial Sector Development Implementation Plan for Seychelles.
Cabinet also approved the Restructuring and Regulatory Framework for financial institutions. This new legislative Framework will provide the way forward in the event that a financial institution experiences financial crisis.
Cabinet approved Finance and Technology Regulations (Fintech Sandbox Financial Services Licence Exemption) to encourage and support the design and delivery of new technologically based non-bank financial services.
Cabinet approved proposal for the introduction of legislation for Energy Efficiency in Seychelles.
Cabinet gave its approval for the new criteria for receiving State funded retirement Benefits. The criteria include, for example, the qualifying minimum number of years of residence in Seychelles.
Cabinet endorsed the National Plan of Action on Ageing Population. The Plan covers a period of five years and focuses on engaging the population on the demographic changes that are happening and their impacts and building consensus around a number of important issues.
Cabinet approved proposal for assisting victims of fire disasters.
Cabinet was appraised of the state of the Public Enterprises and welcomed the publication of the first Public Enterprise Annual Report.
Cabinet gave approval to the National Access and Benefit Sharing Policy and the development of relevant legislative framework. The policy and legislative framework will allow Seychelles to manage, conserve and sustainably use the country’s genetic natural resources and associated traditional knowledge whilst securing sustainable livelihoods and the cultural integrity of the Seychellois people.
Cabinet endorsed amendments to the Tourism Accommodation Policy. Some of those changes were bed capacity, architectural design, qualifications of persons in the establishment.
Cabinet welcomed the publication of the Five Steps to Starting a Business Booklet by the Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Department.
Cabinet approved regulations to exempt Value Added Tax on canned Tuna.
Cabinet approved for the setting up of a Poverty Alleviation Task Force that will deal with cases of extreme poverty. This new process is based on the success of the Corgat Estate Task Force and it aims to have appropriate structures in place to fast track alleviation of poverty actions based on the local measures of poverty.
Cabinet endorsed the formation of a Technical Committee on fisheries matters. This Committee will engage with partners and stakeholders to identify and plan actions for cross-cutting priorities and opportunities to be pursued.
Cabinet gave approval for the development of policy and legislation on beach beds and other similar equipment on the beachfront.