A 20-men delegation led by the chairman of the Seychelles International Business Authority, (SIBA) Mr Jacquelin Dugasse, leaves Seychelles on Monday September 9,  to participate in a three-day conference to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Besides officials from SIBA, 15 representatives, namely from the private sector's legal and accounting professions, are also taking part in the conference.

The conference themed "A New World of Opportunities in the Indian Ocean," will be held at the Michelangelo Hotel as from Wednesday September 11 and is being organised by SIBA. It followed SIBA's first conference on "Future of Offshore Centres in the Cyber Age," which took place on Praslin two years ago.

The conference in Johannesburg will bring together over 100 delegates, namely business planners, international bankers, financial advisors, lawyers, accountants and offshore professionals from around the world. It will cover all aspects of financial planning involving offshore centres with particular emphasis on Seychelles, now that the country has been fully integrated in the global financial system, having complied with the information exchange requirements of the OECD (Organisation Economic Corporation Development), and the money laundering controls of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force). 

The forum, according to Mr John Esther, the director of Business Development of SIBA, is designed primarily "to provide a forum where participants can learn about the latest strategies in financial planning and asset protection, and provide local practitioners with the opportunity to market themselves and their services to their South African counterparts."     

Given the growth of e-commerce and the Internet adding to the attraction and ease of an offshore centre, the conference also aims at showing ways to take advantage of this new world where the better-regulated centres are playing their part in global commerce free from the misplaced criticisms of the past.                                                                   

At the end of the conference, participants will get a better idea "on how professional advisors and end-users, mainly South Africans, can legally make use of these emerging and approved international business centres such as Seychelles, which have been fully integrated into the global financial system," Mr Esther added.

During the conference, the delegates will discuss legislative, political, and economic issues facing the financial planners and end-users. Prominent, international speakers from Cyprus, Austria, USA, Malta, UK, Jersey, South Africa and Seychelles will also address the conference on a range of specialised subjects from "fighting against money laundering," "tax planning and exchange controls" to "trusts- the essential planning tool."

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