Turning L’Union Estate on La Digue into a self-sustaining and profitable business venture, offering Tourism products to visitors that can increase revenue, seizing potential business opportunities and exploring farming options to enhance food security, are some of the pressing deliverables raised at a meeting headed by the President of the Republic Mr Wavel Ramkalawan with the Board and Management of L’Union Estate yesterday (Friday 3 December).
 
President Ramkalawan was accompanied on the visit to L’Union Estate on La Digue by the Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship, and Industry, Mrs Devika Vidot, under whose purview the state owned Enterprise falls under. Since August this year the Ministry and the Executive have been consulting with Board members of L’Union on a potential transformation plan for the entity, to enable it to become profitable, thus generating employment for Diguoise and helping to boost wealth for the island and for the country. The creation of a strategic and development plan for the Estate is one of the first steps to making this a reality.
 
Proposals for the development of the estate will feature cultural heritage sites, an artisanal village, agricultural diversification including livestock, vegetables, vanilla and turmeric, guided tours, entertainment and other activities that will transform the estate into a must visit site for both locals and visitors.
 
During the meeting yesterday President and Minister Vidot thanked everyone for their hard work and reaffirmed Government’s support for the project. They also invited everyone to embrace the transformation of L’Union with a positive attitude while remaining disciplined and committed to their duties, since benefits reaped from the project will filter directly to them, the Diguoise and Seychelles as a whole.
 
Addressing the staff the President said “ I would like to express our sincere appreciation to you all for your hard work over the years.  As we prepare to transform L'Union Estate, I call on each one of you to play an active role and collectively join management in making L’union a profitable business which will not only yield greater benefits for L’Union Estate but for you all as the staff and your families, but most importantly for the country”
 
Essentially L’Union Estate will undergo a shift from being an entity that collects revenue purely through entrance fees charges to one that is offering a number of services as an attraction centre for locals and tourists alike. The project has been well received by the Board and Management of L’Union.
 
In line with its vision ‘generation of wealth and creation of employment responsibly, in a conducive business environment’ the Ministry sees this endeavor as a great opportunity to diversify local economic investment by providing alternative opportunities to investors that have traditionally focused on accommodation on La Digue.  It also enables creation of employment opportunities in the Tourism Value Chain. It is expected that partners on L’Union Estate’s transformation project, should work together to ensure that the expected benefits are felt primarily by the Digois themselves, other locals and by tourists visiting the island.

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