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Friday, September 6, 2013

■ VIETNAM: Seychelles, Vietnam sign a Bilateral Air Services Agreement and various other MoUs.

During a state visit to Vietnam at the end of August, Seychellois President, Mr James Michel, and Vietnam's President, Mr Truong Tan Sang, witnessed the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding involving bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Seychelles and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam of which one pertained to a Bilateral Air Services Agreement.

The talks between Mr Michel and Mr Sang
The first agreement, which was signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ho Xuan Son, has a view to encouraging closer and more frequent collaboration between the Seychelles and Vietnamese Ministries of Foreign Affairs in order to enhance the cooperative relations across an array of areas including trade, technology, and culture, as well as reinforcing the economic, cultural, scientific, and technical cooperation signed in August 2010.

The Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), seeks to expand and diversify air travel between the two countries and the tourism market, with a particular focus on Seychelles to attract more visitors from the Far East and encourage business and tourism exchanges between both countries. This agreement was signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, and the Vietnamese Minister for Transports, Mr. Dinh La Thang.

The twinning agreement between Victoria and Hanoi was signed to help strengthen the people-to-people ties between the two cities and to encourage exchanges in different areas such as economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports, health, sustainable development, environmental protection, urban development, and tourism. It was signed by the Mayor of Victoria, Mrs. Jacqueline Moustache-Belle, and Chairman of the People’s Committee of the City of Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen The Thao.

The memorandum between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed by its President, Vu Tien Loc and Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry by its Chairman, Mr. Marco Francis, is aimed at strengthening economic and commercial relations between business communities across all sectors.

The memorandum between the Seychelles Tourism Academy and the Hanoi Tourism College will allow both sides to share their knowledge and skills across the tourism sector and collaborate more in eco-tourism. This agreement was signed by the Minister for Employment and Human Resources Development, Ms. Idith Alexander, and the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr. Ho Anh Tuan.