Background of ACD
Thailand initiated the ACD to be a continent-wide cooperative framework guided by positive thinking and the comfort level of participants. The ACD aims to consolidate Asian strengths and fortify Asia’s competitiveness by maximizing the diversity and rich resources in Asia. The First ACD Ministerial Meeting was held between 18-19 June 2002 in Cha-Am, Thailand. This first Meeting was an historic and successful event that brought together countries representing the sub-regions of Asia and provided a venue where Asian countries could freely discuss issues of common interest and put forward measures to enhance mutual cooperation in all areas. Ministers were enthusiastic in expressing their support for the ACD and in creating a formidable synergy within Asia. Indeed, they agreed that the ACD represented a forum that could consolidate political will among Asian Governments and offer opportunities for them to develop common approaches to positive issues. The ACD currently comprises 30 countries from East to West Asia and is the first forum ever that aims to eventually encompass all countries in Asia.
Founding Members
1. Bahrain
2. Bangladesh
3. Brunei Darussalam
4. Cambodia
5. China
6. India
7. Indonesia
8. Japan
9. Republic of Korea
10. Lao PDR
11. Malaysia
12. Myanmar
13. Pakistan
14. Philippines
15. Qatar
16. Singapore
17. Thailand
18. Vietnam
2003
19. Kazakhstan
20. Kuwait
21. Oman
22. Sri Lanka
2004
23.Bhutan
24.Iran
25.Mongolia
26.U.A.E
2005
27.Russia
28.Saudi Arabia
2006
29.Tajikistan
30.Uzbekistan
The main objectives of the ACD are as follows:
1) To promote interdependence among Asian countries in all areas of cooperation by identifying Asia's common strengths and opportunities which will help reduce poverty and improve the quality of life for Asian people whilst developing a knowledge-based society within Asia and enhancing community and people empowerment;
2) To expand the trade and financial market within Asia and increase the bargaining power of Asian countries in lieu of competition and, in turn, enhance Asia's economic competitiveness in the global market;
3) To serve as the missing link in Asian cooperation by building upon Asia's potentials and strengths through supplementing and complementing existing cooperative frameworks so as to become a viable partner for other regions;
4) To ultimately transform the Asian continent into an Asian Community, capable of interacting with the rest of the world on a more equal footing and contributing more positively towards mutual peace and prosperity.
The core values agreed upon at the Meeting are an important and unique aspect of the ACD. The ACD is meant to serve as the missing link in Asian cooperation while constituting an informal and non-institutionalized forum for Asian Foreign Ministers to regularly exchange views on issues of mutual interest. The ACD is an incremental and evolving process. It is characterized by a top-down nature and emphasizes positive thinking, inclusiveness and the comfort level of all participants.
At the Cha-Am Meeting, Ministers agreed to develop two dimensions of the ACD, namely, dialogue and projects. The dialogue dimension is aimed at promoting interaction and the participation of ACD Ministers and Government officials. A continuous dialogue is seen as essential in maintaining a constant rapport, in particular between ACD policy makers. On the projects dimension, countries are encouraged to volunteer to become 'prime movers' in areas of cooperation of their interest and to develop each project to the advantage of Asian countries.
Dialogue Dimension:
Several ACD inter-sessional and follow-up meetings were organized to keep ACD member countries updated and conduct close consultations among the ACD Coordinator and member countries, including the ACD Senior Officials’ Trips to ACD Capitals. Furthermore, ACD Ambassadorial Retreats have been held in Bangkok in July 2002, December 2002, June 2003 and June 2004, chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and in November 2004, February 2005, September 2005, March 2006 and May 2006, chaired by the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand.
In between the annual Ministerial Meetings, ACD Ministers also meet on the Sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September each year since 2002 where ACD Foreign Ministers update each other on the progress of ACD project cooperation, hold constructive discussions on international issues of concern and strengthen the 'voice of Asia' in the international arena.
Thailand hosted the Second ACD Ministerial Meeting in Chiang Mai in June 2003. The Chiang Mai Declaration on Asian Bond Market Development was adopted at this Meeting.
China hosted the Third ACD Ministerial Meeting between 21-22 June 2004 in Qingdao, Shandong Province. ACD Ministers unanimously agreed that Pakistan be the next host of the ACD Ministerial Meeting in 2005 and Qatar in 2006.
ACD Ministers adopted the Declaration on Asia Cooperation and the Qingdao Initiative. The former document provides a guideline for future cooperation in all fields among ACD countries that is aimed at attaining peace and prosperity in Asia. The latter document focuses on issues of energy security through cooperation in energy-related fields, for instance, infrastructure development, exchange of information, joint exploration, alternative and renewable energies and human resource development.
Pakistan hosted the Fourth ACD Ministerial Meeting between 5-6 April 2005 in Islamabad. The Meeting endorsed the "Guidelines for Granting the Status of ACD Partner for Development," which is aimed at engaging non-ACD countries and organizations in ACD cooperation. Qatar's and the Republic of Korea's offers to host the Fifth and Sixth ACD Ministerial Meetings in 2006 and 2007, respectively, were also accepted by the Meeting. Kazakhstan reiterated its offer to host the Seventh ACD Ministerial Meeting in 2008, as first proposed during the ACD Ambassadorial Retreat in November 2004. Thailand's offer to host the First ACD Summit was welcomed by the Meeting, the timing of which will be discussed at a later date.
ACD Ministers also adopted the Islamabad Declaration and the Islamabad Initiative. The former document reflects the discussion and affirmation of ACD countries towards the future direction of the ACD whilst the latter reflects the proposals on economic cooperation in Asia of the academic experts that attended the High-Level Seminar.
Qatar hosted the Fifth ACD Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar between 23-24 May 2006. It was preceded by the Prime and Co-Prime Movers’ Consultation on 22 May 2006, held for the first time under the ACD framework so that member countries can update each other on the progress made in their respective project areas and make recommendations to submit to Ministers for consideration and endorsement. The Consultation was attended by high-level representatives from ACD member countries, who reviewed the progress made in various ACD projects and made recommendations in 9 project areas, namely Energy, Finance, Agriculture, Tourism, E-Education, Environmental Education, IT Cooperation, Natural Disasters and Poverty Alleviation. ACD Ministers subsequently agreed on the recommendations.
The Ministerial Meeting had a wide-ranging discussion on cooperation in the areas of Energy and Finance. Ministers endorsed the establishment of the ACD Energy Forum and welcomed Indonesia and the Philippines’ offer to coordinate work on drawing up an ACD Energy Action Plan, which should put priority on promoting energy security, research and assessment on energy, energy infrastructure development and encouraging member countries to explore the possibility of re-investing revenues that accrue from the energy trade in the ACD countries. The Meeting also supported the convening of the 2nd ACD Energy Forum in Pakistan in March/April 2006 and other activities in the area of energy to be hosted by Kazakhstan and the Philippines. Ministers reiterated the need to make productive use of Asia’s substantive savings, including revenues that accrue from the energy trade, and invest these in the ACD countries, which can be done through the Asian bond market. Therefore, Ministers noted the outcomes of the High-Level Seminar on “Enhancing Financial Cooperation through Development of an Asian Bond Market” held in March 2006 in Thailand, which provided an opportunity for participants to engage in policy-related and technical dialogue on key issues related to Asian bond markets development and helped creating public awareness on said initiative. Ministers also agreed on the need for private sector participation in the ACD’s activities to ensure that the ACD produces tangible outcomes. Ministers discussed the issues of membership and future directions and, in this connection, agreed to set up a Small Group comprising past, present and future hosts as well as Thailand, as the Main Coordinator, to give further study to these issues. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were accepted as the 29th and 30th members of the ACD. The Republic of Korea’s and Kazakhstan’s offers to host the Sixth and Seventh ACD Ministerial Meeting in 2007 and 2008, respectively, were accepted by the Meeting. The Doha Declaration was adopted by the Meeting. In it, ACD Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the ACD’s goals and core values while recognizing the need to promote a more effective and focused cooperation, particularly in areas with the most potential. The ACD Ministerial Meeting on the Sidelines of UNGA 61 on 21 September 2006, chaired by Qatar, welcomed two newest members and endorsed in principle the Report of the Small Group on Future Directions of the ACD. The Report comprises 3 proposals concerning membership (aiming to reach a decision whether to institute a temporary moratorium or continue to accept new members by the time of ACD 6 in South Korea in 2006), coordination (making the Prime and Co-Prime Movers’ Consultation a regular forum and putting into place a Coordinating Group comprising the previous, present and future hosts of the annual ACD Ministerial Meeting plus Thailand responsible primarily for making substantive preparations for each year’s annual ACD Ministerial Meeting), and future direction (setting up a small-sized ACD high-level study group with voluntary representation from the senior ranks of member countries Foreign Affairs Ministries or academic communities to explore and make recommendations on the end goals of ACD Cooperation, a funding mechanism, a secretariat and Track II participation in the ACD process; first meeting to be convened by Korea; recommendations are to be submitted to Ministers at ACD 7).
A number of ACD countries have expressed interest and volunteered to become prime movers in the area of cooperation that best matches their expertise and interests. For practical reasons, project cooperation will proceed on a voluntary basis and need not require a consensus from all ACD countries.
1. Prime Movers and Areas of Cooperation
At present, many countries have proposed to be prime movers in 19 areas of cooperation as follows
Areas of Cooperation
Prime Movers and Co-Prime Movers
1. Energy
Bahrain, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Qatar, China and the Philippines
2. Poverty alleviation
Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam
3. Agriculture
China, Pakistan and Kazakhstan
4.Transport linkages
India, Kazakhstan and Myanmar
5. Biotechnology
India
6. E-Commerce
Malaysia
7. Infrastructure fund
Malaysia
8. E-Education
Malaysia
9. Asian Institute of Standards
Pakistan
10.SMEs cooperation
Singapore, Sri Lanka
11. IT development
Republic of Korea
12. Science and Technology
The Philippines
13. Tourism
Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Pakistan
14. Financial Cooperation
Thailand
15. Human resource development
Vietnam, Thailand
16. Environmental education
Japan and Qatar
17. Strengthening legal Infrastructure
Japan
18. Road Safety
Oman
19.Natural Disaster
Russia
2. Some highlighted activities that have been organized include the following:
Agriculture
China hosted four activities in the area of Agriculture. The ACD Agricultural Policies Forum was organized in Beijing between 10-12 January 2005. The Meeting, which was attended by 18 member countries, exchanged views and experiences on agricultural policies as practiced by each country and agreed that each country will become an agricultural mover for a specialized product, based on its advantages. Furthermore, member counties also agreed that they would focus their future policies on facilitating trade of agricultural products amongst member countries. Later, China hosted the ACD Agricultural Officials’ Seminar between 16-25 October 2006 in Beijing. At the Seminar, member countries exchanged views and experiences on ways to expand cooperation in the area of strategic agricultural management, animal husbandry, rural economic development and agricultural information technology development.
Environmental Education
Japan hosted three activities in the area of Environmental Education. The First Workshop was held on 7-8 June 2004 in Tokyo. A second meeting on Environmental Education, with an emphasis on green production and green life, was held between 20-21 September 2005 in Tokyo. The Third Dialogue on Environmental Education for Sustainable Development was held between 14-15 June 2006 in Sendai, where participants agreed to strengthen cooperation through the promotion of regular exchanges of views, experiences and best practices among each other on the implementation of the UNDESD to achieve concrete results and benefits. Japan will host the fourth Dialogue between 26-27 June 2007 in Kitakyushu.
Energy
Five meetings have been held in the area of energy, hosted by Bahrain, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Indonesia, respectively. The First ACD Energy Forum, hosted by Indonesia between 26-28 September 2005 in Bali, emphasized the importance of energy in supporting economic development and industrialization in Asia and agreed that the ACD, composed of some of the world’s major oil producers and consumers, has great potential to cooperate in this area. The Meeting, therefore, agreed to draw up an ACD Energy Action Plan. Indonesia and Philippines volunteered themselves at the ACD 5 to coordinate the drafting of the Action Plan. Kazakhstan hosted the ACD Seminar on Energy Cooperation in Almaty on 6 October 2006. Recently, Indonesia hosted the Consultative Meeting of ACD Energy Co-Prime Movers between 11-12 April 2007 in Bali to discuss the ACD Action Plan and to prepare the important issues for the second ACD Energy Forum to be held at the Ministerial level in Pakistan in September 2007
Financial Cooperation
Thailand hosted four activities related to Asian bond market development, including the High-Level Seminar on “Enhancing Financial Cooperation Through Asian Bond Market Development” between 24-25 March 2006 in Bangkok. During the Seminar, participants held policy-related and technical discussions on key issues related to Asian Bond Market development, including promoting the supply of Asian bonds, structuring demand and creating an environment conducive to developing bond markets in Asia. Representatives of the private sector also shared their views on Asian Bond Market development, which included the practical concerns of investors that have to be considered in order to strengthen investor demand for Asian bonds.
Tourism
Three meetings have been held in the area of tourism. The latest of which is the 3rd ACD Tourism Business Forum between 24-25 April 2006 in Siem Riep. During said meeting, member countries agreed to step up cooperation in the area of tourism and considered the Road Map for ACD Tourism Cooperation, drafted by Thailand, which covers such areas as tourism for poverty alleviation, human resource development and sustainable tourism. The Meeting also agreed to focus on priority areas where integrated efforts would not only be desirable, but also possible and can produce concrete results within the agreed timeframes.
Road Safety
Oman hosted the Muscat Regional Conference on Road Safety between 4-6 September 2006. The Meeting agreed that traffic accidents are a major health concern and need to be given the highest priority in member countries respective national development agendas; and that member countries declared to observe an ACD Road Safety Day on 25 April 2007 during the UN Road Safety Week (23-29 April 2007). Several member countries had organized activities under this Day, including Bangladesh, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand. Activities have been conducted at both national and regional levels that involve national conventions, academic seminars, public lectures, workshops, training programme, demonstrations, campaigns, exhibitions, sporting events, as well as a Gala dinner.
