Mozambique's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Manuel José Gonçalves, has been attending the 22nd meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, since Thursday (24).

At the meeting, which is being held under the theme "Seizing the opportunities of the Indian Ocean in a sustainable way for inclusive development", the foreign ministers will help review current regional socio-economic developments and other issues of importance to the IORA.

The IORA Council will also seek to identify and evaluate appropriate strategies capable of contributing to sustainable and balanced development among the association's member states.

Mozambique's participation in the IORA Council of Ministers is an opportunity for the country to contribute to efforts to promote cooperation between countries bordering the Indian Ocean in various areas, with an emphasis on recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and the threat of food insecurity, reads a press release quoted by "Domingo".

Bangladesh is the current President of the IORA, and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen is chairing the COM meeting.

Bangladesh took over the presidency of the IORA at the 21st IORA COM Meeting in Dhaka, held on November 17, 2021, and adopted the theme "Harnessing the opportunities of the Indian Ocean sustainably for inclusive development" for its 2021-2023 mandate.

IORA, an intergovernmental organization created on 7 March 1997, aims to strengthen regional cooperation and sustainable development in the Indian Ocean region through its 23 member states - and 10 dialogue partners.

The member states of the IORA are: Commonwealth of Australia, People's Republic of Bangladesh, Union of the Comoros, French Republic, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Madagascar, Malaysia, Republic of Maldives, Republic of Mauritius, Republic of Mozambique, Sultanate of Oman, Republic of Seychelles, Republic of Singapore, Federal Republic of Somalia, Republic of South Africa, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, United Republic of Tanzania, Kingdom of Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Republic of Yemen.

The ten IORA dialog partners are: China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The Council of Ministers (COM) of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is preceded by the 24th Meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO), held on November 22-23 this year.

The 24th two-day CSO meeting discussed the development of a mechanism for the adoption of major projects, the prevention of piracy, armed robbery, unregulated fishing and disaster management. The decisions taken at the CSO meeting will be put to the IORA COM meeting. (ClubofMozambique)