(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it is actively seeking to further develop entrepreneurial skills amongst the islands’ population with the recent setting up of its first business centre.

Located at Ebrahim House on Francis Rachel, in the island’s capital of Victoria, the centre is equipped with six computers with internet access, as well as printers and scanners, and will be providing facilities and training for new entrepreneurs.

"It is meant as a working shop and new entrepreneurs can draw up their business and management plans there," SCCI Chairman Marco Francis told SNA.

Interviewed after the opening of the first House, Garden & Hospitality Exhibition recently, of which SCCI was the main organiser, Francis said in the short term, it is also envisaged to invite representatives of the international auditing firm, Ernst & Young to conduct courses in basic accounting for Seychellois businessmen.

The centre is equipped with six computers with internet access, as well as printers and scanners (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY-NC

This is a way for SCCI to mentor the young entrepreneurs and equip them with the knowledge of important aspects of managing a business such as bookkeeping, accounting and strategic planning.

He noted that everyone even non-members can make use of the Business Centre, though they will subsequently be encouraged to join the SCCI as it is to their own benefit to do so.

The centre, is a collaboration effort between SCCI well as the British High Commission in Seychelles and local telecommunication company Airtel Seychelles, which helped with the equipment and internet access respectively.

According to an article published by daily Newspaper ‘Seychelles Nation’, following the opening of the centre the British High Commissioner Lindsay Skoll commended the initiative and called on everyone in Seychelles from young people, retirees, but particularly the women to make good use of.

“As soon as you empower a woman economically you empower a whole household,” she remarked.

Michelle Lafortune, business development manager at Switch Pty Limited, a marketing agency within the VCS group of Companies launching the website (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY-NC

On top of the Business Centre, SCCI now also has its own website, developed with the help of VCS, the Seychelles company which is responsible for registering all websites with the Seychelles.SC country code domain name.

This is to allow Seychellois businesses to interact with chambers of commerce worldwide as they seek potential investors to collaborate with or potential investment opportunities with foreign partners.