IORA SHOULD BOOST DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY: EXPERT

Padang, W Sumatra, July 7 (Antara)- The Indonesian government must utilize the momentum of holding a meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in Padang, West Sumatra, in October 2015, to boost development of its shipbuilding industry, an engineer stated. "In addition to having an economic function, the IORA should serve as a forum to promote maritime sciences for the progress of the maritime industry," a civil engineering expert of the University of Andalas Badrul Mustafa Kemal noted here, Monday. Members of the IORA can establish cooperation to develop the shipbuilding industry, he noted. Padang has the largest seaport in western Indonesia, and it has the potential to develop a shipbuilding industry, he affirmed. Besides this, West Sumatra Province has two universities: the University of Andalas and the University of Bung Hatta, which can support the development of maritime sciences, he added. Padang can emulate Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province, in developing a shipbuilding industry alike the state-owned shipbuilding manufacturer PT PAL, which is supported by scientists of the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS), he remarked. In the meantime, Indonesia is taking over the rotating chairmanship of the IORA from Australia for the period between 2015 and 2017. The handover of the chairmanship is scheduled to take place in Padang during an IORA meeting to be held on October 20-23, 2015. As part of the preparations for the IORA meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, held an IORA Outreach Program (IOP) on June 4-5. IORA was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Mauritius. IORA, which was formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), currently has 20 members. Its current members are Australia, Bangladesh, the Comoro Islands, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. China, Egypt, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States are dialogue partners. IORA's six priority areas are maritime safety and security; trade and investment facilitation; fisheries management; disaster risk management; academic, science and technology; as well as tourism and cultural exchanges.