IOR-ARC

• The Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), initially known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative, is an international organization with 19 member states.
• It was first established in Mauritius on March 1995 and formally launched on 6–7 March 1997.
• The Association disseminates information on trade and investment regimes, with a view to helping the region's business community better understand the impediments to trade and investment within the region.

 FULL MEMBERS:

• It comprises Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen

 DIALOGUE PARTNERS:

• China, Japan, UK, France and Egypt

 OBJECTIVES:

• To promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and Member States
• To focus on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits
• To promote liberalization, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the Indian Ocean rim

TALKING POINT OF 2012 MINISTERIAL MEET:

• Whether the US should be made a dialogue partner of the grouping, which has completed more than 15 years of its existence but made little headway in terms of economic links among member nations.

 OUTCOME:

• The United States joins IOR-ARC as a dialogue partner
• The Union of Comoros, an archipelago of four islands and several islets located in the western Indian Ocean, also joined the association as its 20th member.
• A consensus, however, eluded on re-naming the IOR-ARC, which in its current 'avatar', is seen as unwieldy and un-pronounceable

 NEXT MEET:

•  Australia,2013