Egypt's and Japan to join Indian Ocean group in Muscat meeting Saturday

Ambassador Nagi El-Ghadrifi, Egypt's assistant foreign minister for Asian affairs, said today that the exceptional meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) which will be held on Saturday and Sunday in Muscat will witness the joining of partners-- Egypt and Japan-- in the discussion to the assembly's membership, in addition to making a working program for the assembly addressing government, economic and private sector roles.

The ambassador added in press statements before leaving for Muscat to head Egypt's delegation in the ministerial meeting that ratification will take place on the documents which organize the assembly's work and the relations among its members.

The IOR-ARC includes 14 countries located on the Indian Ocean and countries that achieved progress in development like Australia and Singapore, as well as countries with promising economies like South Africa and some of the countries of Southeast Asia.