Indonesia to join Indian Ocean grouping
Indonesia to join Indian Ocean grouping
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia along with 13 other countries are set
to launch the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional
Cooperation (IOR-ARC) next year as a vehicle to further enhance
cooperation among countries in the region.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry said in a statement here
yesterday the forum will formally be launched during a
ministerial meeting in March in Mauritius.
"For Indonesia, its participation in the IOR-ARC will
complement other sub-regional and regional cooperation it is
already participating in forums, such as ASEAN, Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation and Asia-Europe Meeting," the statement
said.
The idea of forming an Indian Ocean grouping was launched by
Mauritius when it invited six countries -- Australia, India,
Kenya, Oman and Singapore and South Africa -- for a meeting in
1995. By the end of the meeting they had agreed to form the
Indian Ocean Rim Initiative.
The initiative was founded on the desire to create a
foundation of cooperation between countries in the Eastern and
Western half of Indian Ocean.
The forum would focus its activities mainly on economic
cooperation particularly trade and investment. Activities are
also a combined effort between the government, private sector and
academics.
In a subsequent meeting several months later, the grouping
agreed to invite seven other countries to participate: Indonesia,
Madagascar, Malaysia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Tanzania
and Yemen.
A personal invitation for Indonesia to join in the Indian
Ocean grouping was delivered to President Soeharto here in April
by a special envoy of Mauritian Prime Minister Ram Gulam.
In preparation of next year's meeting, senior officials of the
14 countries gathered in Mauritius last week.
The Indonesian delegation, which participated for the first
time, was headed by the Foreign Ministry's Director General for
Foreign Economic Relations Soemadi Brotodiningrat.
The meeting successfully produced a declaration and work
program for the new forum which would be forwarded at the
inaugural ministerial meeting in March. (mds)