Institutional Mechanisms for Promoting Intra-Regional Investments and Trade in the IOR-ARC Region in Strategic Sectors

This project aims to explore the potential of economic cooperation in the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-RAC) – a grouping of 19 economies in the Indian Ocean region – in knowledge-based industries and infrastructure development and to identify institutional mechanisms for facilitating the exploitation of this potential. Specific attention is paid to identification of opportunities of trade and investment cooperation in these strategic sectors. The study draws upon national and international sources of information on trade and investments of IOR-ARC member countries, while undertaking in-depth case studies for selected member economies based on different levels of performance in terms of the knowledge economy and infrastructure development.