The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Day 2022 celebrated the organisation’s Silver Jubilee on March 7 in Mauritius where the event was graced by the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister Alan Ganoo, diplomats hailing from Member States and Dialogue Partners as well as International and Regional Organisations.
Secretary-General of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) His Excellency Ambassador Salman Al Farisi chaired the reception in the presence of Troika Foreign Ministers, State Ministers, Senior Officials from the IORA Member States and Dialogue Partners who extended congratulatory messages aired as they looked back at 25 years of the RIM that was incepted in 1997.
Minister Ganoo emphasised: “During the association’s 25 years, several important milestones were achieved, including the convening of the First Summit of Heads of States and Government in 2017, the adoption of the Jakarta Concord and IORA Action Plan, and the setting up of sectoral Working Groups, just to name a few.”
He further emphasised that Mauritius would soon issue a special commemorative stamp for the Silver Jubilee of IORA in July 2022 and will host the Third Ministerial Conference on Maritime Security in May 2022 in collaboration with the IOC where he invited the IORA Member States to be part of the event.
SG Salman Al Farisi spoke on the setting up of IORA on March 7, 1997, which opened a new historic chapter for socio-economic cooperation in the region where the organisation is pursuing this path in terms of intensifying cooperation to meet objectives set by the six priority areas and cross cutting issues.
In his remarks, H.E. Salman Al Farisi, Secretary-General (SG) of IORA expressed his warm congratulations on the 25th Anniversary of the founding of IORA. He stressed on IORA’s achievements during the past 25 years, including the expansion of memberships from 14 founding Member States to 23, and 10 Dialogue Partners spread across the globe.
The SG also spoke on several challenges faced in the region, encompassing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and threats of climate change while urging everyone to work for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean region.
The idea to create the IORA aiming to buttress economic cooperation between countries lingering in the Indian Ocean was germinated during a visit of late South African President Nelson Mandela during a visit to India in 1995. He was quoted as saying:
“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 and other peaceful endeavours. Recent changes in the international system demand that the countries of the Indian Ocean shall become a single platform.”
This sentiment and rationale underpinned the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative (IORI) in March 1995, and ushered in the creation, on March 7, 1997, of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC), as IORA was then called.
During the reception, live broadcasting of the official IORA Day 2022 video was aired, followed by the Foreign Minister Ganoo and IORA SG H.E Salman Al Farisi, unveiling the special IORA 25 Years commemorative magazine together with the launch of a book, entitled ‘IORA’s Past, Present and Future Book’ by Prof. V.N Attri, Former Chair in Indian Ocean Studies (CIOS) at the IORA Secretariat.
In the cross-cultural segment of the event, 13 Member States and Dialogue Partners namely, Australia, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mauritius, Russia, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania showcased the rich diversity of IORA.
