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Deputy Minister Pahad arrives in Iran 7th Meeting of the Council
of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation Tehran
- South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad today Tuesday 6 March 2007
arrived in Tehran, Iran where he will attend the 7th Council of Ministers Meeting
of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) in Tehran,
Iran, scheduled from Wednesday - Thursday 7-8 March 2007. The IOR-ARC meeting
is an important instrument to promote shared economic benefit between all member
states of the Association and will in 2007 celebrate 10 years since the formal
inauguration of the Association. The South African delegation will participate
in discussions seeking ways in which the IOR-ARC could be used as vehicle to unlock
the vast potential of the region with the population of close to two billion people.
The meeting will also elicit ways and means in which trade and investment flows,
trade liberalisation, as well as the sustainable exploitation of the tourism potential
of the Association's members could be enhanced. The IOR-ARC member states
include Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand,
United Arab Emirates and Yemen. All these countries are washed by the Indian Ocean,
whose shores has witnessed trade among people in the region for centuries. The
deliberations of the Working Groups will focused, amongst others, on the following
issues: - Foreign Direct Investment
- Tourism Promotion and Development
Projects
- Preferential Trading Agreement
- Economic Summit for leading
business Executives of IOR-ARC
- An integrated coastal management programme
- Increased
student and academic exchange within the region
- The promotion of inter-regional
tourism
- Cross border financial services
- A fisheries protocol amongst
members
- A review of the IOR-ARC Special Fund
- The 10th anniversary
of the IOR-ARC
- Economic Summit for leading business Executives of IOR-ARC
The IOR-ARC is a multilateral organisation comprised of countries
that share a shoreline along the Indian Ocean and was launched in March 1997 in
Mauritius with a view to focus mainly on trade-related issues. The shared identity
of a common historical experience of colonialism and imperialism also contributed
to bringing together the leaders of states in the Indian Ocean region, basing
regional cooperation on the past littoral economic, social and cultural communities
as well as bridging a link between Africa, Asia and Australasia. South Africa
was one of the founding members of the IOR-ARC. The organisation is based on the
principle of open regionalism, which is a flexible arrangement that compares very
favourably with other regional arrangements such as preferential trade agreements,
free trade areas, customs unions, common markets, etc. With several IOR-ARC member
states sharing participation in other regional initiatives, the IOR-ARC plays
an important role as building block for the promotion of south-south cooperation
and for complimenting African-Asian regional integration. Issued by Ronnie
Mamoepa on 082 990 4853 Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag
X152
Pretoria
0001 6 March 2007 | 
