President of Seychelles to visit SL tomorrow

James Alix Michel, the President of the Republic of Seychelles will visit Sri Lanka from 20th to 23rd August, the Government Information Department stated.

Seychelles is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar received independence from the United Kingdom in 1976.

Seychelles a 451 square km land area has the population of 84,000 with the per capita income of US D 11,170

During his three day visit the Seychelles President will have bilateral talks with President , Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and several other key leaders of the government. He is expected to deliver a lecture on “The role of the small island Nations in the Global Tapestry” at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations.

Cinnamon, vanilla, and copra were the chief exports of that country in the early stages. In the 1960s, about 33% of the working population worked at plantations, and 20% worked in the public or government sector. In 1971, with the opening of Seychelles International Airport, tourism became a serious industry, basically dividing the economy into plantations and tourism. The tourism sector paid better, and the plantation economy could only expand so far. The plantation sector of the economy declined in prominence, and tourism became the primary industry of Seychelles with its beaches.