Sri Lanka is going to holdchairmanship of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

During the 23rd Council of Ministers' Meeting scheduled for October 11, 2023, in Colombo, Sri Lanka is going to take over the chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

About the Ministers’ meet:

• Sri Lanka will hold the chairmanship of the association from 2023 to 2025, with the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh ceremoniously handing over the chairmanship to Sri Lankan counterpart.

• Area of Discussion: The ministers will deliberate on ways to cooperate on the six priority areas including;
  • Trade and investment;
  • Maritime safety and
  • Security;
  • Fisheries management;
  • Disaster risk management and
  • Blue economy

Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA):

• Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is the largest and pre-eminent organisation in the Indian Ocean Region with 23 members and 10 dialogue partners.
  • Member countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, and Yemen.
  • Newest country member:France first joined IORA as a “Dialogue Partner” in 2001, before becoming a formal Member State on 17 December 2020 (with effect from 1 January 2021).
  • Dialogue partners:11 dialogue partners:China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Russia, Turkey, US and UK.
• It was established in 1997 and is a regional forum that seeks to build and expand understanding and mutually beneficial cooperation through a consensus-based, evolutionary and non-intrusive approach.
• Headquarters:Its Secretariat is based in Cyber City, Ebène, Mauritius.
• Roles and Functions:
  • It manages, coordinates, services and monitors the implementation of policy decisions, work programmes and projects adopted by the member states.
  • The association gains importance by the fact that the Indian Ocean carries half of the world’s container ships, one-third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments.
  • It is a lifeline of international trade and transport and the Indian Ocean region is woven together by trade routes and commands control of major sea-lanes.