Doha – Information Office – 30 April
The meeting of senior officials of Member States of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) began here Tuesday to prepare for the 16th ministerial meeting of the ACD Member States due to be held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of the State of Qatar.
The meeting of senior officials discusses topics on the agenda of the ministerial meeting, as well as a number of topics related to support for joint action among Member States.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, HE Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi said that these meetings are aimed at continuing cooperation and deepening ties to promote the objectives of the ACD, stressing that the State of Qatar will work to ensure that the outcome of its chair of the ACD Session this year encourages the process of joint action among Member States.
He expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its efforts in presiding over the ACD last year, while expressing confidence that the success will continue when Republic of Turkey takes over the presidency next year.
HE Dr Hammadi thanked HE ACD Secretary General Bundit Limschoon as well as the working group of the dialogue committee for their dedicated efforts to coordinate among Member States.
The 16th ACD ministerial meeting is taking place at a time when Asian countries are still facing many challenges that have hampered progress in development paths. Asian societies have been facing increasing challenges in all areas, which requires us to intensify Asian collective action to realize the aspirations of all peoples of the continent, he added.
In the belief that complementarity between the Asian countries is important, this meeting is held under the theme 'partners in progress', within the framework of existing efforts to promote partnerships for integrated economic growth, with no country left behind, by developing sustainable social, economic, environmental and development strategies, in line with the ACD vision 2030, which fully aligns with Qatar National Vision 2030 that aims to put programs into implementation and achieve sustainable and balanced growth at all levels, he said.
His Excellency stressed Qatar's full support for the proposals of the Member States to encourage cooperation in the six main areas that have resulted from the 20 projects of cooperation, including energy, poverty alleviation, agriculture, transportation, biotechnology, environment, tourism and other development projects, which aim to intensify the process of positive interaction and competitiveness of the continent.
Dr Al Hammadi also affirmed Qatar's firm belief in the importance of deepening economic and trade partnerships, enhancing capacities and investing resources to contribute to the creation of a sustainable and prosperous economy for all countries, pointing out, in this context, that Doha will host Thursday a businessmen forum entitled "Small and Medium Enterprises", a platform to encourage businessmen and decision makers to discuss and open the prospects of investment and exchange in various fields and production and service sectors.
He added that the State of Qatar hosted a workshop to develop education in March, which brought together a number of academics and educational elites in line with its commitment to fulfill its commitments during its ACD chair.
On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting tomorrow, he said, Doha will host the signing ceremony of the ACD MBA agreement among six Asian universities as part of its efforts to support Asian partnerships at all levels, especially in education.
Concluding his speech, HE the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed his confidence that the 16th session of the ACD will reach the desired results through fruitful and constructive discussions by the heads of delegations of the Member States to formulate appropriate recommendations that further promotes this cooperation, and to prepare the draft final statement in preparation for submitting it to the ministers for approval.
Founded in 2001, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) was inaugurated in June 2002 in Cha-Am, Thailand, where 18 Asian Foreign Ministers met together for the first time. The ACD is a continent-wide forum, the first of its kind in Asia. More specifically, the ACD aims to constitute the missing link in Asia by incorporating every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other organizations or creating a bloc against others. A key principle is to consolidate Asian strengths and fortify Asia's competitiveness by maximizing the diversity and rich resources evident in Asia. The core values of the ACD are positive thinking; informality; voluntarism; non-institutionalization; openness; respect for diversity; the comfort level of member countries; and the evolving nature of the ACD process.