Indonesia Promotes Maritime Theme At IORA 2017

JAKARTA, Mar 3 (Antara) - The Indonesian government will promote maritime cooperation at the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) meeting in Jakarta on March 5-7, 2017. "Our chairmanship at IORA is associated with Nawacita (the nine goals) programs particularly the national vision to become the world's maritime axis, therefore we will actively promote maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region," Director General of Asia-Pacific and Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Desra Percaya, said here, Thursday. The theme of IORA meeting will be "Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for Peaceful, Stable, and Prosperous Indian Ocean". According to Desra, Indonesia has kept encouraging maritime cooperation among IORA member states to create Indian Ocean safe, stable, and free from conflicts and prevent aggravation and conflicts such as in the South China Sea. Desra said during Indonesia's Chairmanship of IORA, the maritime cooperation among IORA member countries will be improved, in particular to regulate the conduct of the states. "While being IORA's chairman, Indonesia will take the organization into a higher level that includes governance. We will emphasize the importance of applying international laws to govern the conduct of the Indian Ocean states, particularly to comply with UNCLOS of 1982," he said. According to him, the South China Sea dispute occurs because there are no rules applied. We do not want the Indian Ocean region to be a place where major power jockeying for power," Desra said. The IORA meeting will be held on March 5 to 7, preceded by a high-level meeting on March 5, a ministerial meeting on March 6, and a summit on March 7. In a ministerial meeting IORA Action Plan will be agreed, containing measures that will be undertaken by all IORA member countries during the next four years, one of which is related to women economic empowerment. The ministers will agree IORA Declaration on Preventing and Combating Terrorism and Violent Extremism, and the heads of state or government will sign IORA Concord at the summit.