The UAE participated in the seventh bi-annual meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which was held on 2nd and 3rd August in Bali, Indonesia.

The UAE delegation was headed by Mohammed Sharaf, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Economic and Trade Affairs, who was joined by Saeed Ali Al Shamsi, Deputy Director of the Economic and Trade Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohammed Abbas Al Khouri from the UAE Embassy in Jakarta, and Amira Abdullah Al Dahmani from the Economic and Trade Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

During the meeting, Sharaf stressed the preparedness of the UAE to host the fourth edition of the Indian Ocean Dialogue on 9th and 10th October in Abu Dhabi this year. It will be organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in co-operation with the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, he added.

Highlighting the importance of the dialogue in strengthening co-operation between the Indian Ocean Rim countries, he invited all the members to participate in it. The member countries expressed their appreciation at the UAE’s initiative to host the Indian Ocean Dialogue.

He emphasised that the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the authorities concerned had made the necessary arrangements to host a workshop on 13th and 14th August in Abu Dhabi on building the capabilities of Yemen and Somalia in the fields of drainage and artisan fisheries. The heads of the Yemeni and Somali delegations thanked the UAE government for this generous initiative.

The meeting of the senior officials was preceded by the International Workshop on Practical Workstreams on Trade and Investment, and IORA Economic Integration the day before yesterday.

Al Shamsi participated in the first session about the future of the regional structure for the Indian Ocean Region, which discussed the means to activate the role of IORA, as it was a geopolitical, economic and regional power, and exploit the potential and capabilities of the region’s countries to increase the association’s contributions towards the global economy.

Al Shamsi underscored the UAE’s readiness to co-operate with countries through international and regional organisations, such as IORA, to achieve the strategic goals of economic integration and common wealth.

He noted the importance of integrating the regional structure, especially in light of the appearance of anti-globalisation trends that were aimed at achieving immediate and short-term gains, instead of setting the foundation for long-term wealth and economic justice.

The UAE will assume the role of the vice president of the IORA for the 2017-2019 edition during the 17th Ministerial Meeting, which will be held in South Africa in October 2017, and it will take over the association’s presidency in the following 2019-2021 edition.

Source: Wam