.E. Mr. Ali Sabry, Honourable Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka and Chair of IORA paid a visit to the IORA Secretariat in Mauritius on 17 November 2023. Dr Salman Al Farisi, Secretary-General of IORA welcomed the Minister. At his welcome remarks, Dr Salman Al Farisi highlighted the progress made in implementing the decisions taken at the last Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting held in October in Colombo. He further informed the Chair, about the preparation for the celebration of the IORA Day 2024. H.E. Mr. Ali Sabry commended the work of the Secretariat and further shared his expectation and vision for the organization.

 He stressed that IORA shall aim at achieving peace and prosperity in the region for a good quality of life for its people. He also emphasized that the Indian Ocean requires equal partners with the aim of having an ocean free of conflicts and further expressed his keen interest in promoting collaboration in the Indian Ocean region to create a pool of expertise to benefit all. During the discussions, the Secretary-General of IORA shared with the Minister the creation of a Youth Committee at the level of the Secretariat which has been mandated to engage the youth of IORA Member States in IORA decision-making processes. 

He informed that the documentations regarding this committee shall soon be shared with Member States for their input. The Chair commended this initiative and offered the support of his Ministry in implementing this committee activities. The Honorable Minister H.E Mr Ali Sabry was accompanied by H E Mr Srimal Wickramasinghe, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Mauritius, resident in Seychelles and Mr Samantha Pathirana, Director General of the Economic Affairs (Multilateral) of the Foreign Ministry.