DIRCO Deputy Minister Luwellyn Landers (Photo: bricsjournal.com)Pretoria (VNA) – South Africa’sDepartment of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on August 26 revealedthat DIRCO Deputy Minister Luwellyn Landers will attend the third Indian OceanConference in Hanoi on August 27-28.
South Africa is currently chair of the IndianOcean Rim Association (IORA). The country believes the Indian Ocean regionshould be a region of peace, stability and development to facilitate thepromotion of socio-economic cooperation for prosperity and development in theIndian Ocean Rim.
Its theme for the 2017-2019 tenure is“IORA: Uniting the peoples of Africa, Asia,Australasia and the Middle East through enhanced cooperation for peace,stability and sustainable development.”
Landers will emphasise the contributions of latePresident Nelson Mandela, the national hero of South Africa and the founder ofIORA, to the region.
Some 250 delegates from 43 countries areexpected to attend the conference. They include the host’s Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe, India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj andSingapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.
Themed “Building Regional Architectures,” theconference aims to promote strategic cooperation and trade ties betweencountries; consolidate security frameworks and administration processes; andcontribute to maintaining peace, stability, development, and connectivity inthe region.
It also offers an opportunity for participatingcountries to learn more about the significance of the Indian Ocean on theworld’s map.
Topics to be discussed include security,economy, and trade across the Indian Ocean and neighbouring areas in theIndo-Pacific region; evolving regional architectures; cooperation betweenconcerned countries in trust building; respect for international standards andlaws; peaceful settlement of disputes; oceanic administration; and thesettlement of non-traditional security challenges at sea.-VNA
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