The Indian Ocean region is undergoing a major transformation. We see extraordinary economic growth in South Asia, led by the rising great power that is India. India is on track to become the world's third largest economy after the United States and China, and the world's most populous nation.
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Africa's transformation is also significant. A continent of nearly a billion people, by 2040 Africa will have the world's largest working-age population. While considerable security and development challenges persist, Africa's modern reality is more complex than some of the stereotypes of the past would suggest. Foreign direct investment in Africa is now almost as large as the flow into China when measured relative to GDP and Africa now has more middle class households than India.
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More than a third of Australia's maritime zone lies within the Indian Ocean, including significant current and prospective energy and resource projects. Protecting these projects, as well as continuing to assert Australia's sovereignty over our wider maritime zone, is fundamental to the nation's long term economic interests. The Indian Ocean also represents a significant fisheries resource, and is home to what are arguably the world's most important sea lanes of communication.
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It is clear that Australia's interests in the region require an increasingly activist Australian foreign policy.
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Over the next two years, Australia will work closely with India, as IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation ) Chair, to increase regional cooperation on fisheries management, customs training, energy security, and disaster management. In 2013 and 2014,.
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To secure its future, Australia must look West as well as East. The profound changes in the region demand that we do so.
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Africa's transformation is also significant. A continent of nearly a billion people, by 2040 Africa will have the world's largest working-age population. While considerable security and development challenges persist, Africa's modern reality is more complex than some of the stereotypes of the past would suggest. Foreign direct investment in Africa is now almost as large as the flow into China when measured relative to GDP and Africa now has more middle class households than India.
.
.
More than a third of Australia's maritime zone lies within the Indian Ocean, including significant current and prospective energy and resource projects. Protecting these projects, as well as continuing to assert Australia's sovereignty over our wider maritime zone, is fundamental to the nation's long term economic interests. The Indian Ocean also represents a significant fisheries resource, and is home to what are arguably the world's most important sea lanes of communication.
.
It is clear that Australia's interests in the region require an increasingly activist Australian foreign policy.
.
Over the next two years, Australia will work closely with India, as IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation ) Chair, to increase regional cooperation on fisheries management, customs training, energy security, and disaster management. In 2013 and 2014,.
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To secure its future, Australia must look West as well as East. The profound changes in the region demand that we do so.
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