New Delhi, Nov 1, IRNA – The 12th Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF) kicked off Wednesday at India’s Millineum city, Gurgaon in NCR (National Capital Region)

The IORBF seeks to build and expand mutually beneficial economic co-operation through a consensus-based approach.

Cooperation within the frame work of IORBF are based on respect of the principles of Sovereign Equality, Territorial Integrity, Political Independence, non interference in Internal Affairs, Peaceful Coexistence and Mutual Benefits; such cooperation being consistent with bilateral and multilateral obligations of Member States.

The main objectives of IORBF is to promote the welfare of the people of the participating Member States through carefully-designed programmes to improve their standards of living and quality of life, promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the Member States, reduce impediments and lower barriers towards freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment and technology within the region, and to encourage close interaction of trade and industry, academic institutions, scholars and the people of the member states.

The IORBF may draw upon other non-governmental regional business networks, as necessary.

the 12th Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) meeting also kicked off Monday, 29th October with the Academic Group meeting (IORAG).

On Tuesday, 30th October the Working Group on Trade and Industry (IOR-WGTI) deliberated issues of trade facilitation and so on.

IOR-ARC Council of Ministers meeting will take place on November 2, 2012.

Beside Iran, 100 delegates including foreign ministers, ambassadors and media representatives from member countries are taking part in the meeting.

The 19 member states of the IOR-ARC association are Iran, Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The Association also has 5 dialogue partners including China, Egypt, France, Japan, United Kingdom, while the Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation and the Indian Ocean Research Group are observers.

Over the last few years, the countries of the Indian Ocean Rim have clearly come together on one account, that their strategic interests are served by the wellbeing and stability of the maritime domain. That is what brings this Association together and what has given it its increased relevance in the contemporary period.

The Indian Ocean is the third largest body of water on Earth linking the developed economies of the West to the bourgeoning powerhouses of markets of Asia in the East.

IOR-ARC, a regional cooperation initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim countries, was established in Mauritius in March 1997 with the aim of promoting economic and technical cooperation. IOR-ARC is the only pan-Indian ocean grouping. It brings together countries from three continents having different sizes, economic strengths, and a wide diversity of languages and cultures. It aims to create a platform for trade, socio-economic and cultural cooperation in the Indian Ocean rim area, which constitutes a population of about two billion people. The Indian Ocean Rim is rich in strategic and precious minerals, metals and other natural resources, marine resources and energy, all of which can be sourced from Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), continental shelves and the deep seabed.

The 11th meeting of COM was held in Bengaluru on November 15, 2011 where India assumed Chair of IOR-ARC.

The Indian Ocean is vital for the transportation of oil and conduct of other forms of global trade. As far as India is concerned, over 97 per cent of its international trade by volume and 75 per cent by value passes through it. Though the IOR-ARC is yet to find its bearings, it has great economic potential — its combined GDP is likely to cross $9 trillion by 2016