The economic shift towards Asia-Pacific region is here to stay,said commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma,as a result of which,the Indian Ocean region has acquired greater importance. The contemporary relevance of the Indian Ocean as the lifeline connecting landmasses across four geographical regions of the world,namely South Asia,South East Asia,Middle East and East Africa assumes greater salience in our strategic perspective, said Sharma in his inaugural address at the First Economic and Business Conference of the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) here on Thursday. The IOR-ARC comprises 20 members from the four geographical regions. India is currently the chair of the grouping and is co-host of the meet with Mauritius and industry chamber Ficci. Even as the global economic crisis affected these countries,most have managed to maintain a consistent albeit slow growth of 5 per cent on an average,Sharma said,adding that the numbers can go up if the focus is shifted to deepening trade linkages.
