Commemorative Stamp, issued by the Mauritius Post, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Indian Ocean Rim Association was unveiled on 28 November 2022.
Honourable Alan Ganoo, Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade was the Chief Guest of the event. Representatives of the Diplomatic Missions of the IORA Member States, Dialogue Partners and regional/international organisations based in Mauritius attended the ceremony.
In his statement, Honourable Ganoo highlighted that over the past 25 years, IORA has achieved a number of important milestones, including, inter alia, an expanding membership base and the adoption of the Jakarta Concord and Action Plan. He indicated that Mauritius is coordinating the IORA Tourism and Cultural Exchanges cluster from 2022 to 2023 and its priority is to strategise on the revival of the tourism industry in the Indian Ocean region. He reaffirmed Mauritius’ commitment to advancing IORA’s cooperation agenda. Hon Ganoo also called on the IORA Secretariat and representatives of Member States to reflect on the need to mount more tangible and outcome oriented projects with a view to making IORA better known to the rest of the world.
Secretary-General of IORA, Dr. Salman Al Farisi highly appreciated the Government of Mauritius for issuing the Commemorative Stamp. The Secretary-General underscored that the Commorative Stamp would serve to raise the profile and enhance the image of IORA not only in Mauritius, but across the world.
Dr. Farisi also highlighted the various activities undertaken by the Secretariat on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations throughout the year 2022 that include:
- The IORA Day Celebrations including the multicultural and food festival on 7 March 2022
- Publication of the IORA Commemorative 25th Anniversary Magazine
- Youth Writing Competition
- Official video launch of IORA 25th Anniversary
- Beach-Cleaning Activities on 5 June 2022
- The IORA Futsal Tournament on 24 September 2022
- The Tree Plantation Activity on 15 October 2022
