JAKARTA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday called on member states of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to jointly tackle challenges and tap on opportunities in the Indian Ocean region.
The Indian Ocean is ocean of the future and is the future of the world, Widodo said while addressing the opening of the business forum of the 20th IORA summit in Jakarta's landmark JCC convention center.
"That is why Indonesia wants to strengthen the maritime axis drive that would eventually be linked with IORA," the president said in front of delegations of the IORA member countries attending the event.
IORA needs to create solutions on challenges to vibrate the economy in its member countries, particularly in the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.
Besides that, significant efforts need to be carried out in empowering women and youths in the region, the president said.
Information technology-based enterprises will become the business model mostly used in the future in the region, the president said, adding that investors will be attracted to those capable of providing the most interesting and attractive returns.
"The governments' task is to assure well operation of communication infrastructure, from 3G, 4G and 5G technologies, as well as building the fiber optic network that provides huge bandwidth capacity at affordable price," he said.
IORA is an international organization with 21 member states. Indonesia holds the rotating chair of IORA this year.
At least 16 leaders of the IORA member countries have been confirmed to attend the summit's apex session on Tuesday.
Six topics - maritime safety, facilitating trade and investment, disaster mitigation management, fishery management, science and knowledge sharing, tourism and cultural exchange - are high on the agenda of the summit this year.
