By Nasriya Naffin

The Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) of the IORA held their 12th annual meeting on the 28^th of July, hosted by Bangladesh under the theme “Harnessing the opportunities of the Indian Ocean Sustainably for inclusive development”. Bangladesh assumed the Chairship of IORA in November 2021 for a period of two years (2021-2023) under the same theme. Forty-six delegates from 21 member states attended this meeting.

The Meeting was preceded by IORA Development Agency-Dhaka Development Initiative Workshop (IORDA-DDI) in Bangladesh at the same venue in collaboration with German Agency of International Cooperation (GIZ), Germany. An initiative made by Bangladesh to establish an IORA Development Agency to facilitate tangible national/regional level developmental projects to promote regional integration, and economic and sustainable development in the region.

The meeting discussed the progress that has been made so far under the six priority areas–(Maritime Safety and Security, Fisheries management, Disaster and risk management, Trade and Investment facilitation, Academic, Science and technology co-operation, and Tourism and cultural exchange), the two cross-cutting issues of the Association and financial concerns. Member States discussed preparations for forthcoming events, meetings of IORA’s institutional mechanisms, IORA’s engagement with its international partners and special programmes. The meeting also provided an opportunity for Member States to discuss the preparations for future IORA events and meetings, while considering the impact of the pandemic during the past two years. Furthermore, the meeting placed a clear emphasis on the need to reflect on the format of the Meetings of CSO-COM and IORA Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

What is IORA?

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) was established on the 7th March 1997 as an intergovernmental organization. The vision for IORA originated in 1995, when the late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa payed a visit to India, where he said:

“The natural urge of the facts of history and geography should broaden itself to include the concept of an Indian Ocean Rim for socio-economic co-operation…”

This rationale and sentiment were the underpinnings of the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative in March 1995, which led to the creation of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (then known as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation) two years later, in March 1997.

The Indian Ocean being the third largest ocean which weaves trade routes, commands control of major sea-lanes which carries 50% of the world’s container ships, 33% of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and 63% of the world’s oil shipments, the Indian Ocean remains as an important line-of-life to international trade and transport.

It is home to almost 2.7 billion people. States whose shores are washed by the Indian Ocean are rich in cultural diversity, languages, religions, traditions, arts and cuisines. They may vary considerably in terms of their geographic locations, levels of economic development and population. They can be divided into a number of sub-regions such as Australasia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Each of the states have their own regional groupings such as ASEAN, SAARC, GCC and SADC. Despite the differences, and diversity these countries are bound together by the Indian Ocean.

The Council of Foreign Ministers (COM) is the apex body of IORA, which meets annually. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) assumed the role of Chair from November 2019 - November 2021, then the People's Republic of Bangladesh took over from November 2021 - November 2023. A committee of Senior Officials (CSO) meet twice a year to keep the agenda of IORA moving forward and discuss recommendations put forward by working groups and forums of the officials, academics and businesses to implement policies and projects to enhance the lives of people in the Indian Ocean Member States.

IORA celebrated its 20th Anniversary of the Association in 2017 as a proactive inter-governmental organization with a heightened importance within the region of the Indian Ocean. Enhancing the bonds among the Member States whose shores are washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean, IORA remains as a committed organization that helps to improve understanding and build co-operations that are mutually beneficial to member states through a consensus based, evolutionary and non-intrusive approach in the swiftly changing environmental features of the region.

Currently, IORA is a dynamic organization consisting of 23 Member States and 9 Dialogue Partners, which has seen continuous growth in mutually beneficial regional co-operations through a consensus-based, evolutionary and non-intrusive approach.

Overall, IORA is a great initiative with a vision to mutually help countries facing the Indian Ocean through collaborations and strengthening the livelihood of the people of these nations, and for the mutual benefit of the Member States. As most of the developing countries are involved in the organization, IORA will take measures to help countries that were hit hard after the pandemic and to overcome challenges that are being faced by many of them.