Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC)

website: IOR-ARC

E-mail: iorarchq@intnet.mu

Indian Ocean Rim Business Centre: jbc@bol.net.in

The IOR-ARC was launched in Mauritius on 6-7 March 1997.

Members are Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The Seychelles announced its withdrawal from the Association in July 2003.

China, Egypt, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom are dialogue partners of the IOR-ARC. At present, only the Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation (IOTO) has observer status.

The Indian Ocean Rim defines a distinctive area in international politics consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean. It is a region of much diversity, in culture, race, religion, economic development, and strategic interests. The countries vary in the size of their populations, economies, trade, and technological development and in the composition of their GDP. A number of sub-regions are evident, for example Southern and Eastern Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. It also includes a number of regional organisations, such as ASEAN, GCC, SAARC, and SADEC.

For many centuries, the countries, economies and peoples of the Indian Ocean have been bound together in an informal cooperative economic community. Traders, seamen, fishermen, and pilgrims traversed the Indian Ocean and its numerous ports, enabling a vibrant trading network to emerge.