Speech by Deputy Minister Sue van der Merwe during the Opening Session of the First IOR-ARC Ambassadorial Working Group Meeting, Diplomatic Guesthouse, Pretoria, South Africa, 18 May 2006

Your Excellency, Deputy Minister Sheykhattar
Executive Director of the IOR-ARC Secretariat, Mr. Samsudeen
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners and other Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Ambassador Matjila and colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

I have the pleasure on behalf of the Government and people of South Africa to welcome you all to this first meeting of the Heads of Diplomatic Missions of the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC) Working Group. I would especially like to extend a warm welcome to His Excellency, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Sheykhattar to Pretoria and trust that he would have a fruitful visit to our country. On the same note, I would also like to welcome Executive Director Samsudeen to South Africa as I believe that this is his first visit to our country in this capacity. I hope that both of you will enjoy your stay and that this will be the first of many visits and engagements.

Ambassadors and High Commisioners present here today are testimony of the warm and ever-increasing relationships we have between us. You have done excellent work in fostering bilateral relations between our respective countries and I know you will do the same in promoting our multilateral relations through forums such as the IOR-ARC.

South African foreign policy is no longer only about consolidating political relations with countries of the world. South Africa's foreign policy is increasingly about translating strong political relations into strong economic relations that will contribute to our vision of creating a better South Africa for all those who live within it.

We must use the opportunity that the IOR-ARC provides for regional integration and co-operation, as it is a valuable platform for enhancing economic interaction in the region. We need to strive to use the IOR-ARC as a key to unlock the potential of the India Ocean Rim, in particular enhancing trade and investment flows, trade liberalisation as well as the sustainable exploitation of the vast tourism potential of the Association's members. Since its establishment in 1997, the IOR-ARC has served as a significant co-operation platform for those countries of the South whose borders are washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean.

As we approach the 10th year anniversary of the IOR-ARC in 2007, we need to start asking those uncomfortable questions about what we are working to achieve with this organisation. We need an organisation that is more relevant to the real needs of our people and one that addresses the critical areas of development referred by the UN Secretary General in his report "In Larger Freedom", namely:

1. freedom from want;
2. freedom from fear;
3. freedom to live with dignity; as well as
4. reform of the United Nations.

Such an organisation should therefore be more than a platform for sharing ideas but serve as a vehicle towards producing tangible results that have a qualitative impact on peoples' lives.

We have a common goal in addressing poverty in our respective countries and in the South generally. We must serve as active agents of change contributing to the betterment of the lives of our people. We need to remain firm in our resolve to eradicate poverty, creating a just and equal world within a rules-based international system. We also need to act with the necessary decisiveness and speed.

You will recall that on the occasion of the Sixth Meeting of the Council of Ministers held in Tehran three months ago, we decided to establish this Working Group of Heads of Diplomatic Missions based in Pretoria with the purpose of reviewing the periodic work programme presented by the Chair of the Council. At that meeting we supported that notion of a strong leadership role for the Chair of the Association, and I am pleased to see that our work is being given the necessary direction, leadership and momentum as evidenced by the Deputy Minister's present here today. We also decided that the first meeting of the Working Group should take place here in Pretoria within three months of the Council of Ministers Meeting. In this regard, I would like to congratulate the Chair, the Executive Director and you as members of this working group for convening this occasion within the agreed timeframes! Always a good start!

The mandate of this working group as discussed in Tehran in February was, amongst others, to make proposals and share ideas for the 10th Anniversary of the IOR-ARC next year in view of envisaged IOR-ARC Economic Summit that is to be held. This should enable us to assess critically whether we have responded with the necessary seriousness to the challenges facing us. Put in different words: Have we achieved the objectives that we have set ourselves since the inception of this organisation?

It should be remembered that the Indian Ocean Rim represents a population of close to two billion people, making it desirable destination for investment flows, market opportunities and as a tourism destination. At previous meetings of the IOR-ARC we identified a number of opportunities for niche collaborative projects that we could exploit to the mutual benefit of our countries and peoples. These include fisheries; mitigation of natural disasters; preparation for epidemics; Preferential Trade Agreements; and developing and updating of intra-IOR-ARC trade and investment flows.

This working group, therefore, has a huge responsibility in carrying forward not only the monitoring of progress and speedy implementation of projects and programmes of the Association, but also to contribute to fulfilling, in the spirit of multilateralism, the Association's founding ideals of increased cooperation and shared benefits to all.

A key element of making this a reality is the creation of the necessary institutional capacity. In this regard, South Africa would like to re-state its commitment to the strengthening of the Rim's institutional capacity by seconding an official to Mauritius during this year to augment the capacity of the Secretariat to deliver our joint initiatives.

Equally important is that this inter-continental initiative is not seen in isolation but as complimentary to other inter-regional and international initiatives such as the New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership. Integrating ourselves in such a manner will guarantee that we do not remain on the margins of key global developmental initiatives, but play a key role promoting and realising the aspirations of our people.

Your Excellencies

The IOR-ARC Council of Ministers has requested you to ensure that the potential of this Association is exploited fully to the maximum mutual benefit of all our people. I am confident that you will be able to respond with the necessary seriousness to the task before you. I wish you fruitful discussions.

I thank you