Sri Lanka, a member country of the IORA, is organizing a virtual seminar entitled “Cooperation for Maritime Security” which will be held from 21 to 23 March. Stakeholders and Dialogue partner States are invited to participate in this workshop in which we will discuss maritime security, a very important issue for the States bordering the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean is one of the most important maritime areas in the world whose geostrategic importance has grown hand in hand with the economic development of the regions bordering it. This gigantic body of water covering over 65 million square kilometers, the third largest on a global scale after the Pacific and the Atlantic, is rich in energy resources (it supplies almost 40% of the world’s offshore crude oil production), minerals and food. It is also surrounded by some key passages such as the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Bab el-Mandeb, Hormuz, Malacca and Lombok through which flow the trade routes that feed the global economy.