Courtesy Ceylon Today

First of all, I would like to thank our Sri Lankan friends for the excellent arrangement of today’s meeting.

We are confident that the tendency to consolidate cooperation between the practice-oriented multipolar platforms like IORA should become the dominant trend.

We consider the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Union as natural associates of the IORA. And in the South East Asia – ASEAN. The idea to establish contacts with IORA was successfully implemented at the events of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta this September with IORA Bangladesh Chairman and the General Secretary Salman Al Farisi being invited.

Even under artificially created limitations for our country, Russia is trying to search opportunities to support the countries of the region. The participants of the Russia – Africa Summit that took place in Saint Petersburg this July with many IORA member countries present could feel it. President Vladimir Putin highlighted a clear plan of actions aimed at rendering assistance to the Continent’s countries in need. We have such resources. The forecast gross grain yield of 2023 is 135 million of tons including 90 million tons of wheat.

Joining the IORA family as a dialogue partner in 2021 Russia connected up at once the events on sectoral interaction. We are aimed at strengthening cooperation with IORA in close partnership with South Africa that as far as we know will assume coordination with Russia.

We pay special attention to such crucial issues for IORA as the development of the blue economy. Around 20 countries attended the topic seminar that we organised this June. Its practical value was exchange of experience, of the world best practice and instruments of sustainable use of ocean resources with elaboration of useful recommendations for member countries.

We were glad to see the representatives of the IORA member countries at the large-scale international VII Global Fishery Forum that was held in Saint Petersburg this September. The Seafood Expo took place in the framework of the Forum. Around 18 thousand of participants from 75 countries attended the events.

Russian ministries and research institutes connect readily the IORA activities on other cooperation tracks being guided by the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030.

We intend to further consolidate humanitarian ties. We invite the Ministers of culture and the prominent cultural dignitaries of the Indian ocean countries to take part in the Forum of United Cultures Forum in Saint Petersburg that will be held this November. In March 2024 we hope to see the youth from your countries at the World Youth Festival in Sochi – one of the largest events of the international level.

The IORA may count on Russia in search for resolution of global food and energy problems.