Minister Chacón also announced that Spain will put at the disposal of Seychelles its military capacity to train law enforcement officers in aerial surveillance and rescue at sea.

It will also help to set up a telemedicine unit at the Seychelles Hospital which will also cater for Spanish seamen and other citizens working here.

Minister Chacón, at the head of a high level delegation comprising Spanish defence ministry officials and Spanish ambassador to Seychelles Antonio Sanchez-Benedito Gaspar, was speaking after holding talks with President James Michel at State House.

Earlier in the morning, just after arriving here, Minister Chacón and her delegation met and held talks with the high level committee against piracy chaired by Minister for Home Affairs, Environment, Transport and Energy Joel Morgan.

Speaking through an interpreter after her talks with Mr Michel, Minister Chacón thanked the Seychellois head of State and government for the good cooperation it has with the Spanish government and its support to the Atalanta operations, especially to the Spanish companies whose ships operate here.

“Your support and help is greatly valued and I thank you,” said Minister Chacón.

Minister Chacón noted that Seychelles is at the forefront of the anti-piracy fight, both in terms of maritime security and judicial prosecution, and commended Seychelles on this outstanding effort.

During the meeting, the Spanish defence minister reaffirmed her support to Seychelles’ effort to strengthen its capacity to protect its territory.

President Michel and Minister Chacón discussed the challenges faced by Seychelles in the surveillance of its territory, and the way that Spain would provide military cooperation for capacity building in the future.

“We are very grateful to Spain in its support to Seychelles both bilaterally and as part of the Atalanta EU Naval operation. This visit is an important step in the consolidation of our cooperation, which we discussed during my working visit to Spain last year.

“Spain is our valued and traditional fisheries partner, making an important contribution to our economy. We will work together to ensure the fisheries industry is protected and our fishermen are safe to continue fishing in a sustainable manner,” said President Michel.

Minister Chacón described discussions held earlier after her arrival with the high-level committee against piracy as very fruitful.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Paul Adam, who accompanied the ministerial delegation to the talks with Mr Michel, said Minister Chacón’s visit shows the solidarity between Seychelles and Spain in security matters.

Mr Adam said Seychelles and Spain are two maritime countries and they have long-standing cooperation in terms of their shipping and maritime traditions and therefore it is natural that the two countries support each other particularly when they are faced with security threats such as piracy.”

Mr Adam noted that as Seychelles hosts a number of Spanish vessels as part of its fisheries cooperation with the European Union, this contributes significantly to the development of our economy and the discussions focused very much on ensuring adequate security to ensure our two economies can continue to benefit from this excellent arrangement.

He welcomed Spain’s offer to improve cooperation between our two countries.
He noted that the setting up of the bilateral commission will examine in more details some of the preventive measures to be taken in the fight against piracy.

The issue of piracy in the global context was also discussed.
“Piracy is often neglected in global debates and people tend to misunderstand the extent to which piracy has an impact on world economies,” said Mr Adam.

The prosecution and transfer of pirates to Somalia were also among other issues that were discussed.
The Spanish ministerial delegation left Seychelles later yesterday.