Webinar. Ocean Accounts in the Indian Ocean Region

Progress and potential to support the development of the blue economy

4 September 2025

This event brought together government representatives, technical experts, and development partners to explore how Ocean Accounts can serve as a critical data framework to advance sustainable ocean governance across the Indian Ocean region.

Hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment & Tourism of Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) and supported by the IORA Secretariat, the event showcased national and regional efforts to integrate environmental, social, and economic data to inform blue economy policies.

Discussions highlighted recent progress, share lessons learned from pilot implementations, and identify opportunities to strengthen alignment between ocean accounting initiatives and IORA’s Blue Economy Work Plan.

Recording

AGENDA (90 MIN)

Introductory Remarks - 5 minutes
Ms Anzul Jhan, Director General, Economic Affairs (Multilateral), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Sri Lanka

Ms Stephanie Johannes, Director for Fisheries Management and the Blue Economy, IORA

Introduction to Ocean Accounts and progress in IORA Member States - 10 mins
Dr Ben Milligan, GOAP

Intervention – Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit - 10 mins
Dr Honita Cowaloosur, UNECA

5-minute country statements concerning Ocean Accounting (6 - 7
countries) - 30 mins
Facilitated by GOAP

Panel discussion of experts from IORA region and Q&A - 30 mins
Facilitated by GOAP

Closing remarks IORA Secretariat - 5 mins

Learn more about IORA

IORA Homepage | iora