Foreign ministers and ministerial-level officials from 17 Asian countries Wednesday concluded the two-day first-ever pan-continental meeting in Cha-am, 170 kilometers (106 milers) south of Bangkok, agreeing to promote more dialogues and cooperation for regional stability and prosperity.
"The ministers identified a wide range of areas of cooperation at the meeting, such as poverty-alleviation, human resources development, bridging the 'digital divide', science and technology, promotion of Asian culture and tourism and development of the small and medium-sized enterprises," Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told a press conference after the meeting.
The first Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) meeting, initiated and hosted by Thailand, is attended by foreign ministers from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Brunei, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Qatar are represented by other ministers.
Surakiart said the ministers felt that the core of the ACD is its "dialogue" component while agreeing that participation of the ACD should be on an inclusive basis and be open to all Asian countries interested in it.
He said during the two-day meeting, 17 Asian ministers endorsed that the ACD initiative can serve as the "missing link" to bring together all existing regional and sub-regional groupings in Asia, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Surakiart noted the major focus of the ACD is economic cooperation while political issues and bilateral conflicts are to be largely avoided at the forum.
"However, the ACD will try to create a cooperative atmosphere in which the conflicts are more easier to be solved," he said.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who masterminded the ACD idea, said he hoped all the 17 countries to continue the already-started pan-regional process, which he said will eventually enhance Asia's collective bargaining power in international economic arena.
According to a statement released after the event, Thailand, the initiator of the ACD concept, will continue to act as the ACD coordinator for another year.
The next ACD meet is scheduled in Thailand's northmost province of Chiang Rai, in June 2003.
(People?s Daily June 20, 2002)
