ACD summit seeks to develop cooperation
KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah’s call to hold the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)
Summit arises from true belief and keenness to develop and
sustain mutual cooperation, Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah
Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said yesterday. “A whole decade passed
on our annual consultations and dialogues, during which, our
genuine desire to cooperate and develop our joint action was
embodied in order to promote our dialogue into a mechanism
beneficiary for our peoples’ prosperity and welfare,” Sheikh Sabah,
also foreign minister, said before a preparatory meeting of ACD
foreign ministers, which kicked off earlier yesterday.
“Our Asian continent is the largest and most
populated… enjoying a rich history and cultural diversity that
contributed in advancing science and human knowledge throughout
time. This requires us to reinvigorate joint efforts towards more
coordination and consultation,” Sheikh Sabah noted. “Kuwait has realized the
importance of its Asian outreach, as it started to expand its
diplomatic representation in the continent with missions in Asian
countries nearing 40 percent of the total diplomatic representation
of Kuwait overseas. Also, Asian missions in Kuwait represent 35
percent of total diplomatic corps. Kuwait is looking forward to
continue with expanding such representation in a bid to fortify and
deepen its communication with Asian countries,” he pointed
out.
Sheikh Sabah added: “Kuwait is ardent on supporting development
efforts in Asia by financing different developmental projects
through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and in
cooperation with concerned governments, and the estimated volume of
grants and developmental assistances to beneficiary countries
amounts to $5.5 billion.” He called on the conferees to respond to
concerns of people of the continent through joint and collective
efforts.
Meanwhile, Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said the
ACD has made great accomplishments but much more is needed to be
done. “There is good reason to be pleased with these
accomplishments, but I believe the ACD has much more to do to
realize the full potential of our ongoing cooperation and that of
the region as a whole,” Surapong said during the ACD foreign
ministers’ meeting.
The Thai foreign minister, also ACD Coordinator, said the forum,
which was launched in 2002, has expanded its activities to cover 20
areas of cooperation, stretching from the economic dimension to
social, cultural, educational and technological advancement. He
extended his appreciation to member states who made great
contributions to enhancing Asian cooperation in the past year,
including Kuwait which hosted a seminar on trade and finance and
Bahrain which adopted an initiative on energy cooperation.
Surapong said amid economic uncertainty, conflicts and wars, Asia
needs to be stronger from within. “With the risk of conflicts and
disputes in the region, amicable solutions must be found to reduce
tensions and promote mutual understanding.” He stressed that Asian
countries must maintain a stable and peaceful regional environment
to guarantee that all efforts be directed to promoting economic
development and cooperation.
Highlighting his country’s agenda on further enhancing cooperation
among ACD members, he said that Thailand’s main focus is on areas
of energy security and food security. “We may start from sharing
data, expertise and experiences, and improving physical
infrastructure and logistics management to ensure efficient access
to energy and food supplies,” he said. He also urged oil exporters
to ensure the stability and affordability of energy prices.
The Thai minister said that the 32 ACD members need to be more
connected in order to facilitate trade, investment, tourism and
better understanding among peoples. “Thailand therefore has
prepared a concept paper on ACD Enhanced Regional Connectivity,” he
said, hoping this paper would be a basis for future cooperation
among members. Another priority, he noted, is financial
cooperation, emphasizing the need to promote cross-listing on stock
markets, signing investment protection accords, and facilitating
investment by sovereign funds, social security funds and public and
private funds.
He said the Chiang Mai Initiative Multi-lateralization (CMIM),
which extends an alternative line of credit to partner governments
in times of financial hardship could also be discussed by the ACD.
“All of the above cannot be accomplished without the continuity and
more structured management of the ACD process,” he said. He
expressed his country’s pleasure to host annual consultations
between Thailand as ACD coordinator and an ACD tripartite panel to
follow up progress and assess short-term goals for cooperation.
Surapong said that the ACD, which enters its second decade, is
urged to consider a more formal institutional framework, adding
that a permanent secretariat is an option for achieving a more
enhanced cooperation. He emphasized that the ACD could be a main
platform in finding solutions to common challenges facing the
Continent. “Thailand is therefore ready to host the ACD Ministerial
Meeting in 2015 and my Prime Minister will announce that Thailand
will hold an ACD Summit in the same year”.
Later, Sheikh Sabah and Surapong hosted a press conference for the
local and international media covering the summit. Sheikh Sabah
noted that during the preparatory meetings on a ministerial level,
a number of issues in the Asian continent were discussed addressed
which include energy, food security, poverty, sustainable energy,
global financial crisis, economic cooperation within the Asian
state, global catastrophes as well as cooperation in technical and
scientific research. The Kuwaiti foreign minister also
congratulated Afghanistan as it assumed membership as one the 32
member countries of the ACD. “Kuwait is very hopeful and very
positive about the objective and goals of summit,” he added.
Surapong conveyed his best wishes for Kuwait for hosting a
successful first ACD summit. “Since inception in 2002, ACD has been
very successful in promoting dialogue beneficial to people’s
prosperity and welfare,” he said. A media center and an exhibition
containing various stalls of the countries involved in the ACD
summit was then inaugurated at the Arraya Ballroom in Sharq.
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/10/15/acd-summit-seeks-to-develop-cooperation/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Cooperation_Dialogue