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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-Operation (IOR-ARC): Reality or Imagery? |
Author: | Venter, Denis |
Year: | 2001 |
Periodical: | Africa Quarterly |
Volume: | 41 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 1-32 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Indian Ocean |
Subjects: | regional economic relations international cooperation international relations Economics and Trade |
Abstract: | The Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) economic grouping, now more widely known as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation or IOR-ARC, was tentatively launched in Mauritius in March 1995 by the seven initial members as a tripartite effort of government officials, businessmen, and academics, in response to other regional associations being formed all around the world. In 1997 another seven countries joined, followed by another five in 1999. There are also several dialogue partners like China, Egypt, Japan, and Britain. In this paper the author examines an association which he feels is being overcome by inertia and is in serious need of re-energization. He examines the widely disparate membership, the charter, institutional structure, rules of procedure, and work programme. He follows this with a disquisition on the principles and objectives and on the finance. He devotes a section to the work programme of the Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF), which is concerned with trade and investment promotion, and gives a brief overview of eight of its projects. He then moves on to discuss the work programme of the Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG), which is largely oriented towards helping governments and businesses, but also pays lip service to academic exchange and coordinating research, albeit heavily economically oriented. He gives a brief review of seventeen projects. Finally, as one of the main factors hindering progress, he identifies the controversy surrounding the particpation of South Africa. Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract] |