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ZIMBABWE seeks to benefit from the experience of Seychelles in the tourism sector as part of bilateral and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador David Hamadziripi, who is also Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa, said this recently after presenting his credentials to Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan at that country’s State House, Victoria. He becomes the first Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Seychelles.

“Zimbabwe is also a very attractive tourist destination. Even if we offer a different package altogether, we can still benefit from the experience of Seychelles in marketing, training and other related areas in the tourism sector,” said Amb Hamadziripi.

“We have agreed to work closely together also with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism to develop that relationship,” he told reporters.

Seychelles and Zimbabwe are both members of the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc), the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa (Comesa), the African Union and the United Nations.

The success of the Seychelles Covid-19 vaccination programme was also highlighted.

“We are impressed by the number of people who have been vaccinated. In Zimbabwe, we have a vaccination programme that is progressing well, but the number of those who have been vaccinated is not as high as it is in Seychelles,” outlined Hamadziripi.

He also met with the Seychelles’ Vice President Ahmed Afif and the discussion centred around the ongoing UN conference on climate change – COP26 – in Glasgow.

“What we discussed was our concern about the acceleration of climate change and our expectations that developed countries who are largely responsible for this acceleration of climate change, would meet their commitment in terms of financial support, technical support to developing countries so that we can better mitigate the effects of climate change,” said the Ambassador.

The newly accredited ambassador also met with the Seychelles’ Minister of Finance, Naadir Hassan and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde.

“I am looking forward to meeting the chairman of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). We are having all these meetings with the view to explore ways in which we can improve the trade relations between Zimbabwe and Seychelles and also improve the people-to-people relations between the two countries. I am hoping to also meet the minister of education as we believe there is a number of possible potential cooperation in that area as well,” said Amb Hamadziripi. — Seychelles News Agency