Port Louis: Mauritius on Thursday lauded India`s contribution in fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean Rim region.
Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam said India made "significant contribution to fight against the scourge of piracy in our region."
He was speaking after inaugurating the first Economic and Business Conference of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC).
The two-day conference, among others, is being attended by Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry Anand Sharma and representatives of several nations including Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa.
IOR-ARC is a grouping of 20 nations.
Ramgoolam also underlined the need for focusing on concrete deliverables by the governments of the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries to improve the lives of about 2 billion people living in region.
"We need for focus on concrete deliverables," he said.
He also said trade and investment among the member countries has remained much below potential.
In this regard, Ramgoolam made a case for increasing cooperation in the field of deep sea mining, rare earth metals, defence and other emerging sectors among the member nations.
IOC-ARC is a 15-year old association which was formed in 1977 to promote mutually beneficial cooperation among countries in the Indian Ocean region through a consensus- based, evolutionary and non-intrusive approach.
The Maurtius Prime Minister called upon the member countries to adopt right approach and and formulate new trade agenda for the region.
Ramgoolam, however, ruled out any move towards a common currency saying that the system had created problems in the European Union.
The focus, he added, should be on "exploring the best possible arrangement in a structured manner to boost trade and investment."
The combined GDP of IOR-ARC member countries in 2012 rose to an estimated USD 6.9 trillion from USD 5.8 trillion in 2010.
By 2016, the combined GDP of IOR-ARC countries is expected to reach over USD 9 trillion. The recent performance of the regional economies indicates that they have successfully come out of the global financial crisis.
The economies in the region have both traditional and knowledge-based sectors, having the capacity to absorb increasing pressure of the regional demand in most of the sectors, he said.
India has been on the forefront in combating the menace of piracy through naval exercises and seeking cooperation from other countries.
PTI
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