12th IOR-ARC Council of Ministers Meeting

The 12th Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC) Council of Ministers meeting was held in Gurgaon on November 2, 2012

 

Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC)

IOR-ARC, a regional cooperation initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim countries, was established in Mauritius in March 1997 with the aim of promoting economic and technical cooperation. IOR-ARC is the only pan-Indian ocean grouping. It brings together countries from three continents having different sizes, economic strengths, and a wide diversity of languages, cultures. It aims to create a platform for trade, socio-economic and cultural cooperation in the Indian Ocean rim area, which constitutes a population of about two billion people. The Indian Ocean Rim is rich in strategic and precious minerals, metals and other natural resources, marine resources and energy, all of which can be sourced from Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), continental shelves and the deep seabed.
Presently it has 19 members- Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE and Yemen. There are five Dialogue Partners namely China, Egypt, France, Japan and UK and two Observers namely, Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG) and Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation (IOTO), Oman.
The objectives of the Association are as follows:

• To promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the Member States, and to create common ground for regional economic co-operation.
• To focus on those areas of economic co-operation which provide maximum opportunities to develop shared interests and reap mutual benefits.
• To explore all possibilities and avenues for trade liberalisation, to remove impediments to, and lower barriers towards, freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the region.
• To encourage close interaction of trade and industry, academic institutions, scholars and the peoples of the Member States without any discrimination among Member States and without prejudice to obligations under other regional economic and trade co-operation arrangements.
• To strengthen co-operation and dialogue among Member States in international fora on global economic issues, and where desirable to develop shared strategies and take common positions in the international fora on issues of mutual interest; and
• To promote co-operation in development of human resources, particularly through closer linkages among training institutions, universities and other specialised institutions of the Member States.

The Association has its own Charter and guidelines to include projects in its Work Programme.
Structure:
The apex body of the IOR-ARC is the Council of (Foreign) Ministers (COM). The meeting of the COM is preceded by the meetings of the Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG), Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF), Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI), and the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO). The Secretariat of IOR-ARC is located at Port Louis, Mauritius.

 

Main decisions of the 11th Meeting of the Council of Ministers:
The 11th meeting of COM was held in Bengaluru on 15 November 2011 where India assumed Chair of IOR-ARC and Australia assumed the Vice Chair. India worked with other members to build consensus on themes of contemporary relevance to all members and for IOR-ARC to focus on in the coming years. Six priority areas were identified to take forward the cooperation under IOR-ARC: (i) Maritime Safety and Security; (ii) Trade and Investment Facilitation; (iii) Fisheries Management; (iv) Disaster Risk Reduction; (v) Academic and S&T Cooperation; and (vi) Tourism Promotion and Cultural Exchanges.

Economy of the Region

• In 2011, the combined GDP of IORARC member countries increased to an estimated US$ 6.5 trillion from US$ 5.7 trillion in 2010. The combined GDP of IORARC countries is expected to cross US$ trillion by 2016.
• During the period from 2001 to 2011, the total trades of the region more than tripled, from US$ 1.1 trillion in 2001 to US$ 3.5 trillion in 2010. Exports increased from US$ 564 billion in 2001 to US$ 1.8 trillion in 2010. The imports by the member countries have grown from US$ 507.6 in 2001 to US$ 1.7 trillion.
• The share of IORARC region in global trade also increased from 8.6 % in 2001 to 11.6% in 2010.
• India and IORARC Region: India’s total trade with the IORARC region has grown more than eight-fold from US$ 10 billion to US$ 156.3 billion during the period of 2001-2010. India’s exports to the region amounted to US $ 69 billion while imports amounted to US$ 87.3 billion in 2010. India contributed 15.6 % of total intra-regional trade in 2010.