Dhaka to host IORA Council of Ministers meeting

Bangladesh, as the incoming chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), will host the 21st IORA Council of Ministers' (COM) meeting on November 17.

The 23rd Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) and its related meetings will be held during November 15-16 in a hybrid format (mixing in-person and virtual), officials said.

Bangladesh will assume the position of the IORA Chair in November.

Its tenure as chair will run from 2021-2023, with Sri Lanka the new Vice-Chair, and the UAE taking the position of the Past-Chair.

The forthcoming ministers' meeting will be preceded by the 23rd CSO meeting taking stock of the Association's progress and endorsing the next IORA's Action Plan (2022-2027).

Meanwhile, a strategic dialogue on the Impact of Covid-19 and perspectives of economic recovery in the Indian Ocean Region will be held on November 17.

IORA is an inter-governmental organisation that was established in 1997.

The vision for IORA originated during a visit by late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa to India in 1995.