Mangala to attend IORA meeting in Jakarta

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera will attend the Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to be held on 6 March in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

At the Council of Ministers Meeting in 2015, it was decided to convene a Summit of Heads of State/Government to commemorate the 20th anniversary of IORA on 7 March 2017 in Indonesia. President Maithripala Sirisena will participate in the Leaders’ Summit. The summit will be preceded by the Council of Ministers meetings. 

 On the sidelines of the IORA meetings, Samaraweera will hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts from IORA member countries.   

IORA is a regional forum which aims to facilitate and promote economic cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. Sri Lanka was a founder member of the IOR- ARC and hosted the 4th and 5th Council of Ministers Meeting in 2003 and 2004 in Colombo. Currently 21 countries are members of the IORA along with seven dialogue partners. 

The meeting will focus on IORA’s objectives and priority areas including maritime safety and security, trade and investment facilitation, fisheries management, disaster risk management, academic, science and technology cooperation and tourism and cultural exchanges.