Economic Transformation Strategy

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT This document presents a strategy for the next 5 years that will help us realise the views, aspirations, dreams and hopes of our citizens. It articulates how those dreams and aspirations will be achieved. This particular document, NDS 2019-2023, is the first of three which will guide us through to 2033. We have spent more than two years on the visioning exercise, giving ourselves the space and time to reflect on and imagine the kind of Seychelles we want for ourselves and our children in 2033. We held numerous consultations with a diverse cross-section of society. We met with students, the private sector, civil society, the elderly, and civil servants. We met with residents of Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue. The NDS reflects the feedback received from extensive consultations. Perhaps the most recurring sentiment was the critical need to improve service delivery, in both public and private spheres, so that it is more efficient, better targeted, and more relevant to the increasing needs of our people. The pace of change of technology, the disruption of innovation, and the changing natural environment make it imper- ative that our education system better prepares our youth for the future; that our health system gets each one of us more actively engaged in safeguarding our wellbeing; that our social protection systems better empowers us towards independence; that our regulatory procedures seek to reduce the compliance burden and facilitate growth; and so on. And all of this needs to be done with improved service delivery at its core. In preparing the plans and collating the views of all the participants, we have given due consideration to challenges and opportunities that are arising from the effects of climate change on our island nation. Similarly, we have had to incorporate national commitments such as the United Nations Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Declaration, the African Union's Agenda 2063, and others. As we continue our steady progress and become ever more developed, the greater will be the need for our actions as a society to be well-planned and well-coordinated. A society behaving in a well-planned and well-coordinated manner allows for catalytic progress, allowing us to achieve more for our population in less time. Consequently, some of the plans laid out for this NDS cycle are not goals in themselves. Instead, they lay the foundations upon which the next NDS will build so that the appropriate 2033 goals can be achieved. During the consultations, there was a close to unanimous wish for more discipline and responsibility in our society. A more disciplined and responsible student population, more disciplined and responsible parents, as well as a more disciplined and responsible Seychellois workforce. Maintaining the focus on the six identified socio-economic pillars, the National Development Strategy presents indi- cators to help us track our progress during and after implementation. We appreciate that the road ahead is not 100 per cent predictable. Our world is a dynamic one. Nevertheless, through extensive consultations, we have managed to set a course with a consensual set of desired outcomes. 8

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