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COOPERATION DIALOGUE (ACD)

Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) is a -wide forum established in June 2002 with the special initiation of . It aims to constitute the missing link in Asia by incorporating every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other international organizations or creating a bloc against others. The key principle is to consolidate Asian strengths and fortify Asia's competitiveness by maximizing the diversity and rich resources evident in the continent.

Since its inception, the ACD has rapidly developed in two dimensions, namely; dialogue and projects.

Dialogue: ACD Ministers meet annually at the Ministerial Meeting to discuss development, issues of regional cooperation and ways to enhance and solidify Asian unity. They also meet every year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to update each other on the progress of ACD project cooperation, to hold constructive discussions on international issues of concern and to strengthen the 'Voice of Asia' in the international arena.

Project: Twenty areas of cooperation, as listed below, have been identified and member states are allowed to voluntarily choose to be prime movers and co-prime movers of each area of cooperation.

S.N. Areas of Cooperation Prime Movers and Co-Prime Movers 1 Bahrain, , , Qatar, , , Lao PDR 2 Poverty Alleviation , , 3 Agriculture China, , Kazakhstan 4 Transport linkages , Kazakhstan, 5 Biotechnology India 6 E-Commerce 7 Infrastructure fund Malaysia 8 E- Malaysia, 9 Asian Institution of Standards Pakistan 10 SME's Cooperation , 11 IT Development Republic of 12 Science and Technology The Philippines 13 Tourism Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bahrain 14 Financial Cooperation Thailand, Kazakhstan 15 Human Resource Development Vietnam, Thailand 16 Environment Education Japan, Qatar, Bahrain 17 Strengthening Legal Infrastructure Japan 18 Road Safety Oman 19 Natural Disaster 20 Cultural Cooperation Iran, India, Bahrain

These 20 Areas of Cooperation are further consolidated into the following 6 Priority Pillars: (i) Connectivity (ii) Science, Technology and Innovation (iii) Education and Human Resource Development (iv) Interrelation of Food, Energy and Water (v) Culture and Tourism; and (vi) Promoting Approaches to Inclusive and

Member States

Founded initially by 18 countries with the ultimate aim of transforming the continent into the "Asian Community", the ACD now has 34 member states of Asia. joined this forum as the youngest member in March 2016.

S.N. Country Year of S.N. Country Year of Accession Accession 1 Bahrain 2002 18 Vietnam 2002 2 Bangladesh 2002 19 Kazakhstan 2003 3 Darussalam 2002 20 2003 4 Cambodia 2002 21 Oman 2003 5 China 2002 22 Sri Lanka 2003 6 India 2002 23 Bhutan 2004 7 Indonesia 2002 24 Iran 2004 8 Japan 2002 25 Magnolia 2004 9 Republic of Korea 2002 26 UAE 2004 10 Lao PDR 2002 27 Russia 2005 11 Malaysia 2002 28 Saudi Arabia 2005 12 Myanmar 2002 29 2006 13 Pakistan 2002 30 2006 14 Philippines 2002 31 Kyrgyz Republic 2007 15 Qatar 2002 32 2012 16 Singapore 2002 33 2013 17 Thailand 2002 34 Nepal 2016

Objectives

ACD aims at fostering Asian cooperation at the continental level and integrating several regional cooperation organizations (e.g., ASEAN, SAARC, and the GCC) within the Continent. The core objectives of the ACD, as agreed by the member countries, are:

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 whilst developing a knowledge-based society within Asia and enhancing community and people empowerment; 2. To expand the 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 ; 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.

Institutional Mechanism • Summit: It is the apex decision making body of ACD. The First and Second ACD Summit were held in Kuwait City, Kuwait in October 2012 and , Thailand in 2016 respectively. The next ACD Summit will be held in Iran in 2018.

• Ministerial Meeting: The annual meeting of Foreign Ministers constitutes the ACD’s “higher body.” They also meet annually at sidelines of the UNGA. Thailand hosted the 14th Ministerial Meeting from 8-10 March 2016 in Bangkok which approved Nepal's membership and welcomed Nepal as its 34th member. • Senior Officials Meeting (SOM): It is attended by foreign secretaries or senior government officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

ACD Provisional Secretariat

The State of Kuwait proposed to host the headquarters of ACD at the 1st ACD Summit which was held in Kuwait in 2012. The provisional secretariat was officially inaugurated on 15 November 2013 in Kuwait City. H.E. Mr. Bundit Limschoon of Thailand was appointed as the first General of ACD in 2013.

Nepal and the ACD

The Government of Nepal decided to join the ACD in 2015 by sending a formal letter of intent in August 2015. The 14th Ministerial meeting held in Bangkok on 10 March 2016 approved Nepal's membership and Nepal formally became 34th Member of the ACD. Since then, Nepal has been actively participating in all the activities/events organized under the ACD framework.

Nepal as a Member of the ACD took part in the 2nd ACD Summit held in Bangkok on 8- 10 October 2016 and 15th ACD Ministerial Meeting held in Abu Dhabi on 15-17 January 2017.