Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Ambassador Masud Bin Momen has delivered the concluding remarks yesterday on the final day of the two-day long 12th Bi-Annual Committee of the Senior Officials (CSO) Meeting of IORA held in Cox’s Bazar.

Around fifty (50) delegates from twenty-one (21) Member States of IORA attended the meeting.

Bangladesh, the current Chair of the IORA, participated in the meeting with a delegation led by the Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Ambassador Masud Bin Momen.

In his speech, Foreign Secretary thanked all the delegates for having made time out of their busy schedules to join the meeting and for their engagement and active participation throughout the past two days.

He emphasized the role of IORA in promoting sustainable growth and balanced development for regional and global development and security.

He highlighted the IORA Development Agency-Dhaka Development Initiative (IORDA-DDI), an initiative by the IORA Chair Bangladesh to establish an IORA Development Agency to facilitate tangible national/regional level developmental projects to promote regional integration, economic and sustainable development in the region.

The Senior Secretary further urged the fellow Member States of the IORA to formulate and implement projects for economic cooperation relating to trade facilitation and liberalization, promotion of investment, scientific and technological exchanges. He also underscored the significance of developing ocean economies that are sustainable, equitable and resilient.

Mentioning the blue recovery as integral to this process, he urged all to prioritize this opportunity for a blue stimulus.

The meeting discussed the progress made to date under the six priority areas and two cross-cutting and financial issues of the Association.

Member States also discussed preparations for upcoming events and meetings of IORA’s institutional mechanisms as well as IORA’s engagement with its international partners and special programmes.

Also, the meeting provided an opportunity for Member States to discuss preparations for future IORA events and meetings, taking into consideration the impact of COVID-19 pandemic during the past two years.

Finally, Foreign Secretary invited all to join the next Committee of Senior Officials’ and Council of Ministers’ meeting due in November this year to be hosted by Bangladesh as Chair.