Hon’ble Chair,
Hon’ble Ministers and Heads of Delegation from Member States, Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Selamat Pagi; a very good morning to you all.
It is a historic privilege to be here today in beautiful Indonesia to attend the Council of Ministers of meeting the Indian Ocean Rim Association. At the outset let me thank the Government and people of Indonesia for their warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation.
Connectivity, Regionalism and full-spectrum engagement with the international community is the backbone of our foreign policy. Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman defined our foreign policy as ‘’Friendship to all and malice to none”. IORA is a platform, which could spread the message of an energized global network of production-possibilities and service-sector complements. A sustainable maritime development strategy is at the core of our own development policy. Let me put on record that Bangladesh strongly supports the initiatives of IORA and commends its achievements of the last 20 years.
Through sustained dialogue and cooperation, IORA has gathered strength and now playing an important role as key driving force to ensure peace, development and stability in the region. We are happy to see that IORA is taking resolute steps in the right direction; as we are gathered here to attend the first ever summit on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of IORA.