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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Sue van der Merwe, concludes her Attendamce of the Fifth
Council of Ministers Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim
Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), Colombo,
Sri Lanka, 26 - 27 August 2004
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sue van der Merwe,
concluded participation at the Fifth Council of Ministers
Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional
Cooperation (IOR-ARC) held from 26 to 27 August 2004
in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This was the first meeting of
the IOR-ARC Deputy Minister Van der Merwe attended.
Preceding the 5th Council of Ministers were working
groups for Academia, Business Forum, Trade and Investment
and the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO), which met
from 24 to 25 August 2004.
The 5th Council of Ministers of IOR-ARC successfully
concluded their two-day meeting represented by the 18
member states of the Organisation, of which South Africa
is a founding member state.
- In her opening remarks at the meeting, Deputy Minister
Sue van der Merwe said that "South Africa welcomed
the opportunity to return to the original charter
of the IOR-ARC, signed in March 1997, which emphasized
the development of economic ties between the member
states of the IOR-ARC".
- South Africa was pleased to note progress made towards
the establishment of the Preferential Trade Agreement
among IOR-ARC member states and believed that this
will provide a valuable platform in enhancing economic
interaction in the region.
- South Africa was supportive of close cooperation
with Dialogue Partners and looked forward to an expanded
cooperation between member states and Dialogue Partners.
- The Council of Ministers Meeting (COM) supported
South Africa's proposal to have a brainstorming session
at the opening of the 6th session of the IOR-ARC,
to be held in Tehran, Iran in 2005. This would give
strategic guidance to the deliberations of the meeting.
Key decisions were reached that will ensure the continued
progress of the IOR-ARC at a crucial moment in the life
of the organisation. Amongst those decisions were the
following:
- The Ministers of the IOR-ARC among other measures
agreed to create a Special Fund to finance projects
and programmes, focus on priorities such as intra-regional
tourism and e-commerce.
- The meeting agreed to commence negotiations for
an IOR-ARC Preferential Trade Agreement in the region.
- The Council also agreed to upgrade the level of
interaction with its Dialogue Partners to a higher
level by including them in some of the discussion
sessions. In turn, the Dialogue Partners are expected
to raise the levels of their representation.
Whilst agreeing to make IOR-ARC project driven, the
Ministerial Council approved a cluster-based approach
that will enable a minimum of five member states to
formulate and implement projects under its ambit with
a view to fast-track and ensure a result-orientated
approach to its work.
The Council agreed to appoint Mr TZA Samsudeen from
Sri Lanka as the next Executive Director of the IOR-ARC
Secretariat, who succeeded Mauritius.
Deputy Minister Sue van der Merwe also paid courtesy
calls on both Prime Minister Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa
of Sri Lanka and the Foreign Minister Hon. Lakshman
Kadirgamar.
For more information, contact Ronnie Mamoepa at
082-990-4853 or Nomfanelo Kota at +27-82-459-3787 in
Sri Lanka.
Issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
29 August 2004
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