Third IORA Meeting Underway in Dhaka
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The third meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) began in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on Thursday morning with the participation of senior officials from the member states, including Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The previous two conventions of the body were held in Mauritius in 2015 and in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2017.
The purpose of the meeting is to utilize and exploit the Indian Ocean's capacities in the economic, transportation and resource sectors with environmental considerations.
The slogan of the summit is to develop a sustainable maritime economy and make the most of the opportunities in the Indian Ocean.
The ministerial conference will adopt the Dhaka Declaration and other outcome documents aimed to illustrate the commitment of IORA member states to further strengthen and deepen cooperation on Blue Economy priority areas in the years ahead. The conference was preceded by a working session on Wednesday that discussed means and ways to strengthen Blue Economy implementation.
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is a dynamic inter-governmental organization aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region through its 22 Member States and 9 Dialogue Partners.
Iran, South Africa, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Bangladesh, Kenya, Mauritius (headquarters), Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique and the Seychelles are the main members of the organization while China, Japan, Egypt, the United Kingdom and France are parties to the dialogue.
Zarif, who arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday night, met with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Abdul Mumen and Speaker of Parliament Shirin Chaudhry on Wednesday to discuss ways to develop bilateral relations and review the Islamic world issues and international issues.
The foreign minister also answered questions from Bangladeshi media reporters and gave a speech to the country's Persian-speaking teachers.
Zarif will leave Dhaka today for Jakarta.
This is the second round of the Iranian FM’s Asian tour. Zarif visited China, Japan and Malaysia last week and met with their officials.
