President attends Comesa Summit
08.06.2009
President James Michel is attending the 13th summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls this week.
Nineteen heads of state are expected to attend the summit titled Consolidating Regional
Integration through Value Addition, Trade and Food Security.
The President has stated that Seychelles’ recent reforms mean that our islands are well placed to benefit from enhanced integration, although he will also continue to highlight the specificities of small island states.
"The recent world crisis brings many challenges, but also opens up certain opportunities for developing countries. Through regional groupings such as Comesa, small islands such as Seychelles can also ensure that regional integration initiatives do not ignore key vulnerabilities and specificities".
The summit has drawn more than 1,000 delegates from the Comesa countries, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.