Senior officials of IOR-ARC concludes Sana'a meeting

SANA'A, June 24 (Saba) - The 11th meeting of senior officials from
the member states of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional
Cooperation (IOR-ARC) continued on Wednesday, with the participants
discussing some proposals and initiatives including a Yemeni
initiative to set up a regional maritime center, which will mainly
contribute to combat piracy off Somalia.

The participating delegations announced their countries' support for
Yemen's effort to tackle piracy, affirming the phenomenon is
threatening the interests of all countries.

The meeting, chaired by Yemen, also dealt with other proposals
including one suggesting that Foreign Ministers of the IOR-ARC meet
on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the United Nations General
Assembly in New York.

The second was that senior officials from the IOR-ARC hold a second
annual meeting ahead of the primary meeting.

The two proposals are aimed at enhancing the work of the
organization to achieve its goals for the interest of the member
states.

A sub-committee of finance of the IOR-ARC was raised at the
meeting, with the participating delegations confirming their
approval for the committee formation.

The committee comprises of Yemen, chair, and Iran, South Africa,
Tanzania, Kenya and the Republic of Mauritius as members.

The participants also dealt with the request of Philippines
concerning the accession to the association. They initially accepted
the request, which was submitted during Iran's chairmanship, but
they said Philippines should confirm its request.

In the meeting, the UAE delegation said their country is looking
forward to looking into a wish to establish a regional renewable
energy center in the United Arab Emirates.

All the proposals would be submitted the 9th meeting of Foreign
Ministers of the members states of IOR-ARC which would be held on
Thursday.

On Tuesday, the meeting discussed reports prepared during the
previous proceedings focusing on mechanisms to promote cooperation
among the member states.

The reports emphasized on areas such as information, education,
fish, trade exchange, and transport as well as combating piracy off
Somalia.

The countries also agreed to share information about the H1N1
pandemic in addition to swapping expertise in various fields.

During the meeting, Yemen was handed over the chairmanship of the
session from Iran which held the rotating presidency for the last
three years.

FR