Minister Sylvestre Radegonde satisfied with trip to Mauritius as Chair of the Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)

Foreign Affairs and Tourism Minister Sylvestre Radegonde has said that he is very satisfied with the outcomes of his 48-hour working trip to sister-island Mauritius, undertaken in his capacity as Chair of the Council of Ministers of Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

The trip, undertaken 4 months into Seychelles’ 8th chairmanship of the IOC, was Minister Radegonde’s first to Mauritius since taking over this responsibility at the end of the 38th Ordinary Session of the IOC Council of Ministers held there in May this year.

During this official trip to Mauritius, Minister Radegonde met with the Secretary General of the IOC, Edgard Razafindravahy, for the first time in person since the latter was nominated into the post in July this year during an extraordinary session of the IOC Council of Ministers held online and chaired by Minister Radegonde. At their meeting held at the IOC Head Office in Ebene, Minister Radegonde signed the contract of employment of the new Secretary General before the two men had a tête à tête

Following that, Minister Radegonde chaired a meeting with the management team of IOC’s secretariat to follow up on the implementation of the decisions taken at the 38th Council of Ministers as well as the priorities of the chair. Minister Radegonde also had a separate meeting with Mr. Raj Mohabeer, Chargé de Mission at IOC who was Acting Secretary General of the organization before Razafindravahy took on his post on September 2nd. That meeting focused on issues of maritime security.

Minister Radegonde also met with the US Ambassador to Seychelles based in Mauritius, Mr. Henry Jardine, as well as the Head of the European Union Delegation based in Mauritius, Ambassador Oskar Benedikt. He was the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by the Attorney General and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade; of Mauritius, Hon. Maneesh Gobin.

While in Mauritius, Minister Radegonde also met with the only two surviving founding fathers of IOC, Mr Jean-Claude de L’Estrac, who is also a former Secretary General of the IOC, and Mr Anil Gayan, who is running for the post of Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Mr de L’Estrac signed the Declaration de Port Louis in December 1982 which called for the setting up of the IOC along with the late Dr Maxime Ferrari and Jean Benanjara of Madagascar while Gayan signed the Accord de Victoria in January 1984 which formerly set up the regional organisation along with Ferrari and Christian Remi of Madagascar.

Minister Radegonde said he was very satisfied with his short trip to Mauritius describing it as fruitful. He explained that it was necessary for him as chair of the IOC to meet with the new Secretary General to build mutual trust. As for the meeting with the IOC’s management team, he noted that it was important to ensure that the Chair and the IOC’s secretariat are on the same wavelength as this underpins the success of the organization. Regarding his meeting with Minister Gobin, he said Mauritius and Seychelles have very good bilateral relations. He also said it was important for the Chair of the IOC to meet with the EU as it is a major financial backer of IOC, as well as countries like US which have great interest I regional issues like maritime security.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism – Foreign Affairs Department, Republic of Seychelles.