Foreign Secretary Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage said Sri Lanka has committed to bring together like-minded persons working on Maritime Safety and Security (MSS) related issues, in order to organize a series of workshops and seminars on MSS locally and regionally. The Foreign Secretary said this while addressing a networking meeting held at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute recently on taking forward Sri Lanka’s leadership role in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS). Sri Lanka is a founding member of IORA. In 2011, IORA assigned MSS as the top priority area of focus. Addressing the gathering, the Foreign Secretary elaborated that as a part of the overall responsibilities of heading the IORA WGMSS, Sri Lanka is also looking at how the country can benefit from and contribute to regional cooperation on MSS. At the event, the Foreign Secretary also announced to the MSS fraternity that Sri Lanka is to assume the Vice Chair of IORA in the latter part of 2021, and thereafter Chair for the tenure of 2023 to 2025. He further thanked The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Colombo and the German Think Tank Max Planck Foundation for their cooperation on MSS activities, including carrying out Sri Lanka’s responsibilities leading the IORA WGMSS.