These are event organisers working within the Indian Ocean Rim framework, a regional body that connects nations right across the Indian Ocean.  DCDS – M met them to explore how the coalition can create matching and expansion across this wider region, stretching its reach well beyond Malaysia alone.  The aim was scale, to understand how coalition members could tap into a whole network of nations instead of a single market, and how the coalition’s model could travel.  DCDS – M weighed up where the opportunities sit and how to open them for members in a structured, sensible way.  Regional expansion is a powerful promise, it turns a national coalition into a gateway to a whole ocean of opportunity, and it signals the kind of ambition that draws serious partners.  This conversation opened a route to broaden the coalition’s footprint across the Indian Ocean region, added a layer of reach few competitors can match, and reinforced DCDS – M’s standing as a connector that thinks in regions, not borders.