Affairs, Ms Sue van der Merwe, at the General Debate (Agenda Item 5) during the
sixth meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association
for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC), Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
21 February 2006
Honourable chair,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen
Please allow me on behalf of the South African delegation to congratulate
our host, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the excellent
way in which this occasion has been organised.
Thank you also for the hospitalities extended to all delegates since our
arrival in Tehran. South Africa looks forward to fruitful discussions together
with our partners from the region regarding the future direction of the Indian
Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC).
Ladies and gentlemen, next year it will be 10 years since the inauguration
of the association in Mauritius in March 1997. It might therefore be
appropriate for us to take stock of our achievements thus far, as well as to
adjust the way we work wherever necessary to improve our capacity to achieve
our objectives.
As we were listening to the outgoing chairperson's report on the fifth
meeting of the council of Ministers that took place in Colombo in 2004, we are
once again made aware of the enormous economic potential of the Indian Ocean
Rim. This potential has been illustrated by many commentators, acknowledging
amongst others that the Indian Ocean carries half of the world's container
ships, one third of the bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of the world's oil
shipments. The Indian Ocean Rim is also rich in resources, ranging from food
fisheries to precious minerals, from agricultural wealth to valuable human
technical expertise. Most importantly, the Indian Ocean Rim represents a
population of close to two billion people, making it a massive market. The
strategic value of the Indian Ocean Rim, therefore, is beyond doubt as it
constitutes an enormous asset to international traders, governments and fishing
communities alike.
During the colonial period, many Member States have had first hand
experience of the importance that colonial powers attached to trading routes
along our coastlines and across the Indian Ocean; and in the book "Empires of
the Monsoon: A History of the Indian Ocean and its Invaders", author Richard
Hall recalls contacts between Asia and Africa from the pre-colonial period and
how the monsoons drove a flourishing trade along our common shores.
Ladies and gentlemen, the tragic consequences of natural disasters that have
devastated the Indian Ocean Rim recently, as well as the real threat of the
spread of avian flu which has already reached the shores of member states, have
taught us the value and importance of regional integration and cooperation.
However, the potential of the Indian Ocean Rim remains untapped or
underutilised to the peoples of our countries. As Member States of the Indian
Ocean Rim representing mainly the developing world, it is our shared
responsibility to vigorously promote South-South cooperation in the spirit of
multilateralism to the mutual benefit of all. South Africa looks forward to
further discussing with our Rim partners issues such as the mitigation of
natural disasters and the establishment of early warning systems; maritime
cooperation; building on the academic and research capacity exchange; and, most
importantly, the promotion of trade and investment.
South Africa is eager to see that this association makes tangible progress
on its path to unlock regional potential and deliver positive outcomes. We are
especially keen to strengthen the Indian Ocean Rimâs institutional capacity to
achieve this. I would like to propose that we look at some of the following
issues as a matter of urgency:
South Africa's position is that the role of the IOR-ARC Chair is vital for
the work of the association. The chairperson's mandate to monitor the progress
of identified projects and programmes should be clearly spelled out to ensure
effective communication between identified project champions and the executive
director. We believe that the chairpersonsâ role needs to be a leadership
role.
The role of the executive director should also be strengthened to enable her
or him to effectively carry out the work of the secretariat. Our belief is that
the executive director's mandate should enable her or him to represent the
association at key international meetings to raise the Rim's global image; she
or he should present quarterly progress reports on deliverables to all members;
and this person should be supported with the necessary resources to ensure
delivery.
In this regard South Africa is committed to make its contribution by
seconding an official to Mauritius this year to augment the capacity of the
secretariat to deliver our joint programmes.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you are all aware of the current lack of funding for
projects and programmes, such as academic research and exchange. South Africa
is of the view that our programmes and projects must be based on reliable and
dependable information. Therefore, South Africa welcomes the establishment of
the proposed special fund, ideally to be funded by a predictable source of
income. The special fund would enable the association to carry out its tasks in
a much more informed manner, as well as to provide a platform from where our
dialogue partners could be engaged to participate or contribute to selected
projects and programmes. South Africa is fully aware and sensitive to the
reality of Member States' limited human and financial resources, and
obligations to important other regional organisations.
In this regard, ladies and gentlemen, Member States will remember the
Africa-Asia Summit that took place in Jakarta during April last year and the
subsequent adoption of the New Africa-Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP). This
was the 50th anniversary of the historic Bandung summit in 1955 which
established Afro-Asian solidarity. It is this bond between our nations on which
we need to capitalise.
Delegates will be aware, that as Africans we are committed to an African
Renaissance in an effort to rid our continent of its historic economic
backlogs. Africa has already embarked upon a continental initiative, home grown
and African lead, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Joint African-Asian initiatives offer unlimited potential for equitable
participation and sharing in the benefits of the global economy. The challenge
to us as Member States of the Indian Ocean Rim is therefore to see the creation
of this inter-continental initiative as complimentary to our Indian Ocean Rim
activities and programmes and as an opportunity to create synergy between the
two regional initiatives to the benefit of all.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to reiterate South Africa's
appreciation to Iran for hosting this occasion. May our deliberations as well
as our future actions be targeted and productive. And although as Hall said in
Empires of the Monsoon which I mentioned earlier "The monsoons no longer
dictate when ships can travel the Indian Oceans yet their rhythms still pervade
the lives of two billion people throughout the Indian sub-continent, from East
Africa to Malaysia. The Indian Ocean is reviewing its status as a 'zone of
encounters and contacts and a crossroads of cultures."
We, as Member States, own this association. At this stage, however, we need
to raise its international profile, rebuild confidence in its operations and we
need to reinvigorate its enormous potential to our collective gain.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
21 February 2006
Source: Department of Foreign Affairs (http://www.dfa.gov.za)
