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Dhaka, May 4 (bdnews24.com) – The second bi-annual meeting of the committee of senior officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) will begin on May 7 in Mauritius.
Mauritian foreign minister Arvin Boolell at a press conference prior to the two-day meet at a hotel at Port Louis hoped that the meeting would come up 'with projects of common interest.'
IOR-ARC secretary general ambassador K V Bhagirath, high commissioner of India T P Seetharam and high commissioner of Australia Sandra Vegting were present during the press meet, said an IOR-ARC Secretariat media release.
The 19-nations grouping IOR-ARC was set up in Mauritius in 1997. India is the founding member, while Bangladesh, Australia, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Seychelles are the member-countries of the organisation.
China, Japan, Egypt, France and Britain have the status of dialogue partners in the grouping.
The importance of the Indian Ocean, the world's third largest ocean, as a trade corridor and energy highway is seen 'undeniable', as it provides passage to half of the international container ships and more than 70 percent of crude and oil shipments.
Foreign minister Boolell said that the organization is gaining momentum, especially after the last ministerial meeting in Bengaluru in Nov last year, where India and Australia assumed the role of chair and vice-chair, respectively.
He hoped that with the commitment of the member states, the organisation will be able to address important issues.
"But there is a need to widen the political space for the organisation and to use this to expand economic cooperation," he said.
The Indian high commission has reiterated his country's committed to 'infuse new energy' to the organisation to the best of its capacity.
He said this can be done only with the mutual and combined efforts of all member-states.
The Australian high commissioner said they were 'very' closely with India to bring on board important projects in the prioritised area.
The last Bengaluru meeting set priorities including maritime safety and security, trade and investment facilitation, fisheries management, disaster risk reduction, academic and science and technology cooperation, and tourism promotion and cultural exchanges among the member-countries.
However, Bangladesh wants the IOR-ARC to make a 'clearly-marked' forward journey as it sees the 19-nation grouping 'a vehicle for a qualitative impact on people's lives.'
"With the population of about two billion, technological abilities, and rich minerals, marines and agricultural resources, the Indian Ocean Rim offers enormous opportunity for the IOR-ARC members to enhance trade and investment," foreign minister Dipu Moni had said at the Bengaluru meeting.
bdnews24.com/nih/nir/0830h
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