The Indian Ocean Commission - Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne presides over the 36th Council of Ministers of the IOC (23 Feb. 2022)

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Today in Paris, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister Delegate for Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and Francophonie, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, attached to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, will preside over the 36th Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

The Minister Delegate will meet with the Foreign Ministers of Madagascar, the Union of the Comoros and Seychelles in addition to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mauritius. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne will present an overview of the French presidency of the IOC, which is part of France’s broader Indo-Pacific strategy. During its presidency, France has succeeded in meeting the goals it set for itself in the areas of economic recovery, job training and mobility, maritime safety, natural disaster and health disaster management, the environment and the blue economy. The job training meetings notably made it possible to establish the roadmap for a regional mobility program that President Macron had announced in Réunion in October 2019.

The Council of Ministers will also highlight the financial partnerships established by the IOC, in particular with the European Union, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Green Climate Fund.

Two agreements will be signed on the occasion of this Council of Ministers. The first agreement, concluded by the IOC and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), aims to strengthen cooperation between these two major players in the Indo-Pacific region. The second agreement, concluded by the IOC and the AFD, will cover the funding of a €5 million project that seeks to support cultural initiatives in the region.

Following the Council of Ministers, France will hand over the year-long presidency of the IOC to Madagascar.