Three years after the historic 1st Summit took place in the State of Kuwait in 2012, the Kingdom of Thailand will host the 2nd Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit from 8 - 10 October 2016 in Bangkok, where leaders and Foreign Ministers from 34 Asian member countries will convene to reshape cooperation and development in the region. 

Inaugurated by 18 founding countries in June 2012 in Thailand, the ACD currently comprises 34 countries in Asia, namely Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Nepal. The main objectives of the ACD are to constitute the link in Asian cooperation and transform the continent into an Asian community, promote interdependence among Asian countries in all areas of cooperation by identifying their common strengths and opportunities, and expand trade and financial market within the region. 

Since the beginning, the ACD has been continuously driven by its member countries both in dialogues and projects. On the dialogues, ACD Ministers meet annually at the ACD Ministerial Meeting to discuss developments as well as regional cooperation, and Foreign Ministers from the member countries also meet on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly in September. On the projects, many member countries offer to be the prime movers in the 6 consolidated pillars of cooperation that are in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development in the region, namely Interrelation of Food, Water, and Energy Security; Connectivity; Science, Technology and Innovation; Education and Human Resource Development; Culture and Tourism; and Promoting Approaches to Inclusive and Sustainable Development. 

After the successful outcome of the 14th ACD Ministerial Meeting on 9 - 10 March 2016 in Bangkok, the 2nd ACD Summit will take place from 8 - 10 October 2016 to announce an “ACD Vision for Asia Cooperation 2030”, which reflects shared aspirations and visions for Pan-Asian cooperation and contribution to achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The Vision embodies core values of the ACD which highlight strength among diversify and open a new channel to engage with the business sector of its member countries. 

In parallel with the 2nd ACD Summit, the ACD Connect Business Forum 2016 will be held on 9 October 2016 with a view to focusing on strengthening the ACD countries’ economic competitiveness and resilience. The theme for this business summit is “Innovative Financial Connectivity for a Sustainable Asia” with two sub-themes, namely “Driving Asian’s Economies with Financial Technologies (FinTech)” and “Financing Infrastructure in Asia”. Leading business representatives from the ACD member countries, such as the Presidents of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and Mr. Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, have been invited to speak in this forum. The outcome of the said meeting will be a compendium of ACD Leading Business sector which will help expanding the reach and outlining business opportunity and cooperation among private sector of all ACD members.

The 3rd Summit will be held in Iran in 2018. It will be another opportunity to forge cooperation between countries of East Asia and the Middle East, and raise the voice of Asia at the time when economic dynamism will center in the Asian continent. 

Thailand is ready and pleased to welcome the leaders and Foreign Ministers from 33 countries, as well as the leading private sectors and entrepreneurs in Asia to the 2nd ACD Summit to fulfill the ACD’s commitment and move forward on their cooperation. Many leaders and high-level representatives from the member countries will participate in the said Summit, namely H.M. the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, H.H. the Amir of Kuwait, H.E. the Prime Minister of Bhutan, H.E. the Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. the President of Iran, H.E. the Prime Minister of Laos, H.E. the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and H.E. the President of Sri Lanka. From Qatar, H.E. the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs will lead the delegation to attend this summit.

For more information, please visit www.mfa.go.th, www.acd-dialogue.org, and www.acdsummit2016.com.

Royal Thai Embassy, Doha

2 October 2016