According to Indonesian Foreign Ministry, 16 out of 21 member states of IORA have voiced readiness to take part in the event at the level of leaders.
Director General of Indonesian Foreign Ministry for Asia-Pacific Affairs Desra Persaya confirmed that representatives of 21 member states are to attend the conference, 16 of which will be presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers of the participating states.
Indonesian Special Envoy Hassan Wirajuda met with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif early in February and submitted him a letter of invitation by Indonesian President Joko Widodo for his Iranian Counterpart President Hassan Rouhani to attend the IORA conference.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is the current president of IORA.
Indonesia is to host the IORA conference next week concurrent with the 20th anniversary of the regional entity establishment.
As an international organization founded in 1997, IORA is an international organization which considers sustainable development, boosting economic cooperation and removing obstacles in the way of promoting scientific and commercial cooperation among member states as its major objectives.
It is the only regional forum linking most countries on the Indian Ocean rim through an annual Foreign Ministers' meeting.
It seeks to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in the Indian Ocean region through a consensus-based approach.
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