UAE businessmen urged to invest in Seychelles

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; Yoweri Museveni (left), Uganda President, and Danny Faure (right), Seychelles President, at the Global Business Forum Africa in Dubai on Wednesday.

Seychelles is one of the major tourist destinations for UAE residents and a lot of UAE investors have shown interest in the country's tourism sector, its president said in Dubai on Wednesday.

"Most [UAE] investors are interested in the tourism sector. There are large hotels largely owned by UAE nationals. Etihad is a large shareholder in our national airline and there are some hotels looking to link up with Arab chains to expand," said Danny Faure, President of Seychelles.

"Today, most of our tourists go through the UAE to reach Seychelles. Etihad and Emirates are extremely important in the growth of our tourism arrivals and consequently the tourism sector and the Seychelles economy as a whole. The Seychelles economy today is heavily reliant on tourism. The number of tourists who are coming to the Seychelles from the UAE [both Emiratis and expats] are increasing," Faure said during an interview at the Global Business Forum Africa 2017.

The two-day forum is witnessing the participation of presidents, ministers and other delegates from Africa and the UAE.

There are about three flights a day from the UAE to Seychelles - an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa.

"Although Seychelles is heavily dependent on tourism today, it is important that we diversify. So, I would like to invite investors to consider Seychelles as a market not solely for tourism activities but others as well. There are areas in Seychelles where there may be a market for your product, but we do not know it exists. Similarly, there may be a market for products that we could produce, but we are not aware that it exists," he added.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com