20th Leaders' Summit

The Inaugural IORA Leaders’ Summit held on 7 March 2017 in Jakarta Indonesia, entitled “Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean” brought together Prime Ministers and Presidents of the 21 Members States. Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of IORA, the summit provided momentum to strengthen regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Leaders’ Summit is a milestone for the renewal of commitment for IORA Member States to intensify cooperation and commitment to the Associations priority areas, realising the challenges and potential of the Indian Ocean Region. IORA Leaders who attended the Summit acknowledged the importance of safeguarding the Indian Ocean, an Ocean that unites all Member States.

The Summit resulted in three important documents to guide the organisation into the future namely; the Jakarta Concord signed by the Leaders of Member States, the IORA Action Plan for 2017-2021 and the Declaration on Preventing and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism which the Foreign Ministers issued on 6 March 2017.

The Summit also hosted the meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials on 5 March 2017 along with a Commemorative Photograph Exhibition.  On 6 March 2017, the Council of Ministers Meeting was held in Jakarta as well as the IORA Business Summit and Trade Exhibition, which focused on boosting trade and investment through empowering and globalising small and medium enterprises in the region. 

   In addition to commemorating the 20th Anniversary of IORA, the convening of the Summit is a strategic and progressive step of IORA Leaders, to encourage IORA so that it will be able to move faster, able to face current situations, and able to deal with future challenges.

H.E. Joko Widodo, President of The Republic Of Indonesia at the Indian Ocean Rim Association Summit, 7 March 2017, Jakarta, Indonesia