Third IORA Blue Economy Core Group on “Environmental sustainability and the Blue Economy in the Indian Ocean rim region”

The third and final Blue Economy Core Group Workshop, under the overall lead of South Africa, which was held in Mauritius and constituted the final workshop of the three workshops approved by the IORA Council of Ministers on the topic of the Blue Economy.

The first BECG workshop on; “Promoting Fisheries & Aquaculture and Maritime Safety & Security Cooperation in the Indian Ocean region”, was held in Durban, South Africa from 4 - 5 May 2015 and the second workshop on; “Maritime Connectivity and Financing for Development in the Indian Ocean Rim”, took place at Qingdao, China from July 13-14, 2016. Both workshops were well attended and contributed to highlighting the important regional issues and initiatives related to these aspects of the Blue Economy in the Indian Ocean region.

The recommendations of the three BECG workshops will be submitted to the upcoming Committee of Senior Officials for endorsement and to the Council of Ministers for approval. The outcomes of the three workshops will also be fed into the Second IORA Blue Economy Ministerial Conference that will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 08 -.10. May 2017 as was recommended by the Core Group.