Sabry highlights prowess of Indian Ocean Rim countries

Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry yesterday declared that the Indian Ocean Rim Association could transform and translate the future of the region if all countries pool and synergise all ideas and visions together.

He made this emphasis during his address at the 22nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers’ Meeting (COM) in Dhaka, Bangladesh yesterday. The Grouping has 23-member countries with a combined population of over 2.7 billion.

Speaking as the IORA Vice Chair, Minister Sabry said for centuries, the Indian Ocean has been part of Sri Lanka’s strategic, security and political chronicle.

“Building up from the past as a country that has demonstrated significant openness to trade, today we are poised and positioned to be one of the major trading hubs in the Indian Ocean. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s commitment for the matters that concern the Indian Ocean remain at the heart of Sri Lanka’s current economic and foreign policy,” Sabry said.

“Through our advancement as an Indian Ocean hub concept, Sri Lanka has emerged as one of the most vital shipping lanes and hubs in the South Asian region since around two-third of the oil and half of the container shipment of the world passes from the Southern part of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka thus, has become important for the security of sea lines of communications and in maintaining the freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean.  

“Sri Lanka’s geographic location and its access to regional markets add immensely to its economic and commercial interests, and as the region has also evolved as a platform for projection of power by major power players,” he emphasised.

Sabry also said that Sri Lanka remains committed to a safe, secure Indian ocean and sustainable use of its maritime resources.

“We stress that Sri Lanka’s interests in the IORA and the region of the Indian Ocean are of paramount importance for the country. It is with this driving agenda that we will be seeking to assume the Chairmanship of the IORA next year with a firm conviction to further expand and elevate the scope of the organisation to be more relevant and applicable to the rising significance of the Indian Ocean,” Minister Sabry added.