Ambassador Michelle Murray, Principal Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs led a 16-member delegation to Mauritius to participate in the 12^th session of the Seychelles-Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation which was held on Monday 23^rd October 2017. 

The meeting took stock of the achievements made since the last joint commission and proposed a new roadmap of cooperation for the two countries in the next two years. The discussions revolved around strengthening collaboration in different sectors such as fisheries, health, education, finance and tourism.  

In her opening remarks at the meeting Ambassador Murray commended Mauritius for the successful organization of this Joint Commission and excellent partnership established since the inception of this mechanism in 1991. She added that this edition is special as it precedes the State Visit of President Danny Faure, scheduled to take place from the 26^th to 29^th October 2017. She highlighted the importance of establishing a proper mechanism to follow up on the various outcomes of the meeting. 

On her part, the Co-chair of the meeting Ambassador Canabady, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius, noted that Mauritius draws a lot of inspiration from Seychelles and stands to learn many valuable lessons from its achievements, especially in the field of environment. She emphasized that this forum serves as an important platform that brings together like-minded neighbors and will undoubtedly strengthen its diplomatic ties.   

Other members of the delegation consisted of high officials from different Governmental Departments and Agencies who brought forward important points concerning their respective sectors. 

The agreed Minutes of the meeting is expected to be signed during the State visit of President Faure to Mauritius later this week. 

The eleventh edition of the Commission on Bilateral Cooperation was held in Seychelles in October 2015 and the next edition is expected to be held in Seychelles in 2019.

In the margins of the aforementioned meeting, Mr. Rupert Simeon, Chief Executive Officer of the Societe Seychelloise d’Investissement Ltd (SSIL), and his counterpart from the State Investment Corporation Ltd in Mauritius, Mrs. Banoomatee Veerasamy, Signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which aims to assist each other in implementing their objectives veered around supporting their respective government’s economic development strategy. This MOU has a validity period of two years.