On 15 October 2009, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, attended the 8th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on the theme, Spirit of Asia: Global Economic Recovery and Development Prospects. As ACD Coordinator, the Foreign Minister gave a report on ACD progress during the past year at the Inaugural Ceremony and delivered a Joint Press Conference together with the ACD Troika, the Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka (Current ACD Chair) and Iran (Future ACD Chair) as well as the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Singapore (Past ACD Chair).
In the morning, Foreign Minister Kasit joined the opening ceremony of the 8th ACD Ministerial Meeting which was presided over by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, and delivered an address on ACD Progress (Report of the ACD Coordinator). During the speech, the Foreign Minister stressed the ACD’s role in fortifying Asia’s competitiveness as evident in the activities and cooperation that the ACD member countries had accomplished throughout the year in such various areas as e-Education, energy, poverty alleviation, and SME development. He further emphasized the concept of “cobwebs or clusters of cooperation” that could bring future success to ACD member countries. He also took this opportunity to propose the idea of strengthening the “cultural connectivity” to promote better understanding between the member countries that would lead to cordial ties and future cooperation.
In the afternoon of the same day, Foreign Minister Kasit, together with Mr. Rohitha Bogollagama, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Manouchehar Mottaki, Iran’s Foreign Minister, and Mr. Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Singapore, gave a Joint Press Conference announcing the adoption of the Colombo Declaration and reaffirming the willingness and collective efforts of the ACD member countries in strengthening the economic cooperation and integration within the continent.
The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) was established in 2002 by Thailand’s initiation, with an aim to be an informal platform for dialogue, a venue for member countries to exchange views on international issues as well as cooperate in fields of their expertise and interests. Currently, there are 31 member countries and 20 areas of cooperation under this framework. This year the ACD Ministerial Meeting particularly received much attention from member countries, with more than 20 ministerial-level representatives actively participating in the forum. This success was primarily due to member countries’ shared concerns over multiple global challenges such as the current economic and financial crisis, climate change, and energy issues.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th