The government's ongoing commitment to comprehensive fiscal, monetary and structural reforms initiated in late-2008 will continue to facilitate closer relations with key partners. Seychelles has remained on track with a three-year IMF programme approved in late-2009, while World Bank support will increase. Donor funding will remain intact provided that Seychelles stays on track with reforms. IMF approval of the reforms undertaken to date has allowed for substantial debt relief from the Paris Club of international creditors and from commercial creditors, which has cut the debt burden by half, bringing it down to a sustainable level. The process is now largely complete and there will be no further write-downs. Seychelles will develop closer military ties with the US and the EU owing to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean near the Middle East. The spread of Somali-based piracy to Seychelles' waters will ensure that the archipelago becomes an increasingly important hub for anti-piracy operations. Seychelles' membership of the Southern African Development Community will facilitate ties with the African mainland.