“BLUE” IS NOW THE DIPLOMATIC DRESS CODE.
THE dynamic Chinese ambassador, Mr. Geng Wenbing has left Seychelles after serving for two years. He will be remembered as an aggressive diplomat who served the cause of his country well at a time when China lavished economic assistance on our islands when most other international sources had dried up.
Geng Webing is however particularly proud that during his tenure of office, there were exchange visits by both heads of state; President Michel visiting China, during the China-Africa summit in late 2006 and President Hu Jintao's two day trip here in February last year, as part of a tour of only 8 African countries.
Just before his departure, Geng Wenbing announced plans to build a 200 room Chinese hotel along with 100 villas at an undisclosed site on Mahe.
Most of the projects signed during President Hu Jintao's visit are already being implemented; such as the Baie Lazare School and electricity project for south Mahe.
The foundation stone has also been laid for the new National Assembly building on the reclamation; this too will be funded by China.
The ceremony was boycotted by SNP MNAs, who forgot that many of them were schooled at the Anse Royale polytechnic, entirely funded by the immediate successors of Mao Tse Tung, at a time when China was more Communist and economic liberalisation was still a dream.
China is today about the only country to offer scholarships to Seychellois students, in fields as diverse as medicine, physical education and Chinese as a language.
Still on the agenda but yet to come are two light aircraft for inter-island services, a quarry and a hydroponics farm.
In recent years, politicians of all political backgrounds have been invited to tour China; see the Great Wall and walk Tianamen Square. SPPF and SNP MNAS enjoyed such trips and feasted on Peking Duck and shark fin soup, among other culinary delights.
Another ambassador whose mandate also runs out soon is the French Ambassador, Mr. Michel Tretout. He does not hail from a communist state, but the land of “Liberte, egalite and fraternite", called the cradle of modern democracy.
Yet, unlike the soft-spoken Geng Wenbing, he has been behaving like a nasty dictator, proclaiming to one and all that he is accredited to the SPPF Government and nobody else.
His arrogance earned him the scorn of Seychellois and most French residents.
He tried hard to get the supermarket chain "Carrefour" to open a branch in Victoria, but was unsuccessful because the necessary guarantees to secure foreign currency to pay foreign suppliers could not be secured. Tretout was also hopeful that SAPMER, the fish processing company could operate here and give the US company, Lehman Brothers a game so to speak. He has failed badly in both.
While Geng Wenbing also had the satisfaction of setting up CCTV in Seychelles, TV5 was operational long before Tretout arrived on the scene.
He arranged a visit for President Michel to France, who apparently got many good wishes, but no commitments. President Sarkozy could not simply write off the 50 million euros owed to the French Government's lending agency, the Caisse Centrale.
Poor Tretout. In terms of achievements, compared to Geng Webing, he has turned out to be a diplomatic dwarf, poor chap.