Indian Ocean Conference ends

The 6th Indian Ocean Conference ended in the city on Saturday stressing the need for greater among the member countries for tapping the immense potentials of the region.

The conference, participated by top government officials, diplomats, academicians and civil society members, also felt that understanding among the members are crucial to enhance regional cooperation leading to increased economic growth.

Addressing a press briefing after the conference, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh is committed to fostering cooperation in trade, security through partnership to ensure peace and prosperity.

There were several panel discussions on Saturday.

While addressing a session, BIMSTEC Secretary General Tenzin Lekhpell said discussions are going on for reaching an agreement on FTA.

 “Our foreign secretaries are specifically discussing FTA, the trade agreement in the seven countries. This is something that BIMSTEC countries founded on and it is a core sector for BIMSTEC. And that now we need to take it forward,” he added.

“The member states have tried to come together and negotiate but I understand that the trade involves a lot of negotiations,” he said.

He, however, said that BIMSTEC is now trying to discuss with the member states on some other trade areas such as trade facilitation, customs, things like that, instead of going for the FTA.

Asst Secretary of the US Deputy State Department Afreen Akhtar said that the US absolutely welcomes the Indo Pacific Outlook announced by Bangladesh.

 “And when Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen was in Washington recently for the Partnership Dialogue with the United States, Undersecretary Nuland reiterated that message.”

 “We see strong alignment across a whole host of friends. There was reference to support for rules based order in the Indo Pacific, also reference to supporting connectivity and infrastructure. So we think that there's strong alignment and we really supported and look forward to helping Ganesh implement its vision,” she added.

The United States Indo Pacific strategy makes clear that our vision for a shared cost of our positive vision for sure we cannot be achieved without working in partnership with all of the countries here to build collective capacity, she said.

Secretary General of SAARC, Esala Weerakoon underscored the need for facilitating technology transfer, capacity building, and information access.

“It is imperative that we get you attention to the threats posed by climate change and the degrading environment and work in tandem to ensure responsible growth and sustainable development while living in harmony with nature,” the SAARC secretary general said.

The time is now ripe for all of us to focus on attaining sustainable peace and prosperity across the region, he added.

He said more secure, open, inclusive and prosperous Indian Ocean region would greatly contribute towards fostering peace, stability and development in the region and beyond.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said that Rohingya issue was also discussed in the conference as some speakers said that the regional countries should come forward more proactively to resolve Rohingya crisis.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said that Bangladesh’s image was brightened in the international arena through hosting this conference.

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