Making full use of IOR-ARC as a vehicle of cooperation
Address by
Senior Minister of International Monetary Cooperation and the Head of
delegation of Sri Lanka to the 11th IOR-ARC Council of Ministers Meeting
Dr Sarath Amunugama at Bangaluru, India held on November 15
The importance of the Indian Ocean and its littoral and small states
needs no exaggeration. It is the third largest ocean, and the Indian
Ocean Rim countries provide habitation to 1/3 of humanity.
In terms of economic value, the Indian Ocean is endowed with a large
reservoir of energy, valuable minerals and food resources. It accounts
for about 40 percent of world’s Gold, 90 percent of Diamonds, and 60
percent of Uranium. At the moment, most of this wealth remains either
unexploited or is traded as raw material. The Indian Ocean also carries
half of the world’s container shipping, 1/3 of bulk cargo traffic, and
2/3 of oil shipments. Sri Lanka’s new port at Hambantota lies in close
proximity to these sea lanes.
The IOR-ARC provides a forum for our countries to come together
within the open regionalism framework to pursue trade liberalization,
trade and investment facilitation and sectoral cooperation since there
are common interests among our nations apart from sharing common Ocean.
Senior Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama |
Provide leadership
Sri Lanka has been a committed member of this organization and has
always encouraged the process of dialogue for decision making. The
various recommendations made by the Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum and
Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group need serious consideration in order to
make our organization more vibrant.
We need to be mindful that our organization is based on the concept
of open regionalism. Thereby we encourage member states to engage in
voluntary action and cooperation in bringing the region together. Thus
there is an urgent need for us to identify common areas of interests and
provide leadership to further those interests. I wish to dwell on some
such areas for your consideration.
As I stated earlier, the Indian Ocean is known to contain natural
resources, which are yet to be fully utilized. The exploitation of these
resources requires careful monitoring and dedicated inter-state
collaboration. In this process, maintaining the integrity of the
regional environment is one of the most important common interests of
the Indian Ocean littoral and small member states. Observing and
managing the environmental impacts of human interactions on marine
ecosystems are essential both for resource conservation and human
security in the Indian Ocean Region. Fostering cooperation at all levels
of governance in order to minimize environmental insecurity and climate
change related risks, particularly disaster management should be a
critical policy objective for us.
Let me focus on four areas where we should work together.
People-to-people contacts
Firstly, promoting regional tourism in the Indian Ocean should be
highlighted. Tourism promotes people-to-people contacts, enhances
appreciation of each other’s cultures, reiterates the concept of
pluralism, and strengthens the viability of both local and regional
economies.
Secondly, the threat posed by climate change needs serious
consideration by our membership. Like the land mass contiguity among
nation states, the ocean also connects countries. Therefore, it is
imperative that we maintain a healthy and environmentally sustainable
Indian Ocean. Climate change and global warning will bring unpredictable
consequences which we may classify as non-traditional security threats.
Cooperation among member states on climate change and global warming is
not only a possibility but an urgent necessity.
Thirdly, piracy in the Indian Ocean has become a serious concern for
the member states of IOR-ARC. Our Association could be a good platform
for cooperation in eliminating this growing menace.
The effective Utilization of Ocean resources, biodiversity and
biosecurity could open a new chapter in enhancing food security for
humanity. Protection of Ocean resources and developing new ways of using
them to stimulate economic growth should be systematically and
collectively dealt within the ambit of the ‘Blue Economy’ concept, which
will increasingly come to the fore in the future.
Untapped resources
It was only the other day that the world population reached seven
billion. The world’s land-based food and mineral resources are being
depleted at a rapid rate. A focus on the Blue Economy is badly needed
because it is only the untapped resources of the ocean that can now come
to mankind’s rescue.
Sri Lanka mindful of such potential has proposed the establishment of
a Centre of Excellence on Ocean Sciences and Environment. The Sri Lanka
government has endorsed the establishment of such a Centre which is
dedicated to fundamental and applied research on various aspects of
Ocean Sciences and Environment. The preliminary Concept Paper on the
establishment of Centre has been circulated for the consideration by the
member states. We intend to utilize the best minds in our region to work
at this Centre.
The other important area which we should put our heads together is
how best we could augment intra-regional trade. Recent estimates have
shown that intra-regional trade amongst the IOR-ARC member states to be
in the region of 20-25 percent, which is a fairly significant figure.
Positive sign
As we discuss improving trading within the region, we should also
consider various aspects connected with trade facilitation. Towards this
end, Sri Lanka will be hosting Asia Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum in
2012 in Colombo. Fifty percent of our membership belongs to the Asia
Pacific Region.
The Asia Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum wishes to have a wider
reach by bringing the non-Asia Pacific IOR-ARC member states. Sri Lanka
believes such a Forum would bring the harmonization among the other
regional organizations such as ASEAN, SAARC and BIMSTEC together with
UNESCAP.
In the recent past we have witnessed the proliferation of regional
originations. That is a positive sign of ensuring regional cooperation,
especially at a time when the global North is facing a financial crisis
and a possible double dip into recession. Nonetheless, we also need to
encourage greater interaction among such organizations within a wider
regional approach and IOR-ARC is well positioned to do so. |