Seychelles and Mauritius are moving to accelerate bilateral cooperation in investment, fisheries, agriculture, and services, seeking to build broader economic ties during the 14th session of their Joint Commission following a series of bilateral agreements signed earlier in the year.
Expanding Economic Cooperation Beyond Merchandise Trade
Seychelles and Mauritius want faster implementation of their bilateral agreements as both island economies look to broaden their economic relationship beyond traditional merchandise trade, which remains limited. Investment, fisheries, agriculture, and services have been marked as priority areas for the two governments, with both countries looking beyond limited merchandise trade to build broader economic ties. The two governments expressed their intention to translate existing commitments into concrete results at the conclusion of the 14th session of their Joint Commission on September 11, according to the Mauritian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The renewed effort comes several months after Seychelles President Patrick Herminie’s state visit to Mauritius in March 2026, when the two countries signed seven bilateral agreements. They also announced several initiatives to strengthen cooperation in diplomacy, education, aviation and maritime affairs.
Education, Fisheries, and Blue Economy Priorities
In education, both countries plan to continue exchanges and deepen cooperation between their institutions. Human capital development is among the areas identified to support the transformation of their economies.
Fisheries is another priority. Mauritius and Seychelles want to derive greater value from their ocean resources while strengthening sustainable management of marine resources. The sector is also closely tied to their blue economy and food security priorities. Investment promotion has also advanced since the previous Joint Commission session, and the two countries now want faster implementation of their bilateral agreements.
Diplomatic Engagements and Regional Trade Agreements
Prime Minister Modi visited the island nation to attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Seychelles’ National Day as the Guest of Honour. Prime Minister Modi met Mauritius counterpart Navinchandra Ramgoolam on the sidelines of his three-day visit to Seychelles, with the discussions focusing on the broad canvas of bilateral cooperation, including maritime security, development partnership, trade, capacity building and people-to-people exchanges.
Sharing details of the meeting on X, Modi stated, Had an excellent meeting with Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the Prime Minister of Mauritius. We met at the start of the year during the AI Summit and now we have the chance to meet in Seychelles.
Modi added, “We discussed ways to strengthen the India-Mauritius partnership. The progress being made across every area of our Enhanced Strategic Partnership is a matter of satisfaction for us. A number of projects are being implemented under our Special Economic Package.” Leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to Vision MAHASAGAR and the Global South.
These diplomatic talks complement a wider web of trade arrangements linking island nations in the region. The Seychelles, together with Mauritius, Madagascar and Zimbabwe, signed an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) with the EU in 2009. The agreement has been provisionally applied since May 2012. EPAs are reciprocal and go beyond conventional free-trade agreements, opening EU markets fully and immediately while allowing long transition periods for partner countries to open up partially to EU imports and providing protection for sensitive sectors.
The ESA iEPA is a development-oriented agreement providing duty-free, quota-free access for all ESA-EPA exports to the EU from the first day of application. For their part, ESA-EPA countries are progressively reducing their tariffs to zero for 80% or more of their EU imports, in line with individual schedules annexed to the EPA. Under the EPA, the Seychelles has liberalized 98% of its tariff lines, with the last round of tariff cuts implemented by the Seychelles beginning in 2022. Furthermore, in 2020, despite the pandemic, the European Union remained the main trading partner of the Republic of Seychelles.
