As I said earlier, Seychelles is a middle-income country. We have quite a high GDP. Because of this GDP, we are no longer eligible for foreign assistance. Many developing countries have stopped helping us. China is an exception. China has continued to help us because it has understood the philosophy of development very clearly. China understands that development is a long step-by-step process. When you start a new phase of your development, you really need assistance. And it is unfair and ethically incorrect to abandon a country in the process just because it has achieved some positive results.

Given the sharp contrast in our geographic size and population, how do you evaluate our potential for bilateral cooperation? What will be the major areas of China-Seychelles cooperation and why?

Due to the sharp contrast, the two sides are giving priority not to quantity but to quality. We cannot compare ourselves with other countries that have a big bilateral trade volume. Seychelles’ market is a small one. Our consumption of Chinese products will remain relatively modest even if it develops.

Seychelles’ economy has two pillars-tourism and fisheries. In fact, 92 percent of our exports are fish and fish products. China consumes nearly half of the fish consumed in the world. This is definitely a sector in which some cooperation will take place. Seychelles has been an official destination of Chinese outbound tourists since December 2003. We understand 34 million Chinese tourists are traveling abroad. And out of the 34 million, a few hundred come to Seychelles every year. We do hope that we will get a bigger share.

Seychelles has a very distinctive policy on tourism. Right now we have 140,000 tourists a year. It is not a very high figure compared with some of our neighbors. Our target for 2010 is just 200,000. We do not target more than 200,000 because tourism has a negative impact on the environment. We cannot advocate the need to protect the environment on the one hand, and carry out economic activities that are detrimental to the environment on the other hand. So we have to balance the two aspects - the need for our economy to develop and the need to preserve nature and pass on natural assets to future generations.

China-Seychelles trade soared in 2006, with the two-way trade volume increasing 79.2 percent from the previous year. What are the main products the two countries buy from each other?

China buys fish and fish products from Seychelles. That’s nearly all we have to sell for the time being to China. Seychelles, on its side, is buying construction material, housing equipment, food and all sorts of equipment for the Seychellois’ daily lives.

Seychelles has had investments from China in the construction sector. In which other industrial sectors does Seychelles expect to receive investment from China and why?

We hope to get investment in fisheries, including fish farming, fish processing and ship repair; and in tourism. We think that if we target a higher number of Chinese tourists visiting Seychelles and as Chinese tourists usually travel in groups, we must be able to accommodate these groups and have some hotels with Chinese management or hotels belonging to Chinese tourists to fit their needs and expectations. Chinese tourists do not necessarily want to have coffee, but may prefer traditional Chinese food. So we have to take all these into account and make sure that what we offer to the Chinese tourism market matches the needs of Chinese tourist groups.

You visited Shanghai last month to discuss Seychelles’ participation in the World Expo 2010. What kind of exhibit or presentations have you decided on?

I visited Shanghai recently and I would like to say that I am deeply impressed by the ongoing work to have Shanghai ready for the 2010 World Expo. One thing that I would like to mention is that there is a change in mentality regarding the world exhibitions. They used to be showcases where countries would come and exhibit what they had. And now, in addition to being showcases of national products, they are also formal and informal, conventional and unconventional, official and unofficial platforms of discussions, exchanges and reflections on themes and topics that are of crucial importance to the development of the world.

So, a world exhibition is not just a get-together of countries showing what they have to sell, but also a forum for debate. In the case of Shanghai, the theme is “Better City, Better Life.” It is very important for us to come and show the potential of Seychelles in fisheries, tourism, trade, the offshore sector and investment. It is also important to contribute to the debate on what is going to make life in cities much better in the future than it is today.