The Seychelles President James Alix Michel who launched the inaugural Food and Hotel Seychelles (FHS) 2014  in Mahe on Friday, being presented a memento by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the Seychelles Rajatha Piyatissa and Managing Director of CDC Events and Travels Imran Hassan,while  the Chief  Executive Officer of the Seychelles Small Enterprise Promotion Agency Penny Belmont and leading hotelier Ahmed Didi look on.

in Mahe, Seychelles

The President of Seychelles James Alix Michel says, he looks forward to the inaugural Sri Lankan powered International Food and Hotel Seychelles (FHS) 2014 in Mahe, becoming an annual event.

Speaking to the “Sunday Island” shortly after inaugurating the Exhibition cum Culinary Challenge at the NSC Hall on Friday , which has attracted 38 Sri Lankan companies, he observed ” It’s a great initiative. Buyers from the region and other parts of the world are here and we look forward to making this an yearly event.”

Asked, if Seychelles would be investing in Sri Lanka, the President replied that the foundation had been laid with high level contacts being established in recent years.

“We are trying to complement each other. Seychelles purchases a wide range of products from Sri Lanka while it exports fish in large quantities”, he added.

Seychelles Finance and Investment Minister Pierre Laporte said that FHS 2014 had provided an opportunity for businessmen to tap the huge potential that existed in his country’s hospitality industry.

Recalling a meeting with  Trade Minister Rishard Bathiudeen in Colombo  recently where they had discussed establishing a fish processing project in Sri Lanka, Laporte revealed that his counterpart would be visiting Seychelles shortly in that connection.

Strategic trade and bilateral ties between the two countries had also improved with Mihin Lanka launching direct flights to Mahe, he noted adding that it had opened the door to free market access to East and South Africa.

Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Small Enterprise Promotion Agency (SEnPA) Penny Belmont said that  a large number of companies from Sri Lanka, South Africa, Singapore and Dubai had deemed it fit to come all the way to “little Seychelles, to be part of this exhibition. It underlines the fact that today, no market is too big or too small, no country is too far, as the rapid development of information technology has made our world a global village where communicating is just a matter of a phone call, a video link an SMS or an e-mail. This has encouraged us to push even harder to overcome all barriers to arrive at mutually beneficial agreements to work together for the common good.”

For  participants from Seychelles this exhibition, was an opportunity to spread their wings, Belmont said. She stressed that it would  also be a learning experience to further raise the standards of their products and services, so that Seychelles too could compete shoulder to shoulder with the best.

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the Seychelles Rajatha Piyatissa said that his High Commission in collaboration with Mihin Air was working jointly with the organizer of FHS 2014, Connaissance De Ceylan (CDC) Travels and Events, the Seychelles Ministry of Toursim and Culture, Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Investment Board.

An exhibition of this nature, was very important for the improvement of the standards of hotels, resorts, guest houses and restaurants and also the ideal platform for industry professionals to express their ideas and upgrade to face modern trends,he stressed.

Managing Director of CDC Events and Travels Imran Hassan said that  FHS 2014 showcased the latest products and services representing thousands of brands used in the hospitality industry worldwide.

He thanked the Seychelles Minister of Tourism Alain St. Page, the CEO of (SEnPA) Penny Belmont and their respective teams for their unstinted support in making the event a success.

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