Asia Cooperation Dialogue

Summary

The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) is an intergovernmental organization created on 18 June 2002 to promote Asian cooperation at a continental level and to ensure coordination among different regional organizations such as the ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the SAARC. It is the first international organization to cover the whole of Asia.[3] Its secretariat is in Kuwait City.[3]

Asia Cooperation Dialogue
Logo of Asia Cooperation Dialogue
Logo
Member states in yellow
Member states in yellow
HeadquartersKuwait City
Official languagesArabic, Hindi, Chinese, Bengali, Malay, Japanese, Filipino, Punjabi
TypeRegional cooperation organizations
Members
Leaders
• Secretary-General
Dr. Pornchai Danvivathana[1]
Establishment2002
Area
• Total
46,872,864[2] km2 (18,097,714 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate
4,317,290,284
• Density
92/km2 (238.3/sq mi)
Website
ACD-Dialogue.org

History edit

The idea of an Asia Cooperation Dialogue was raised at the First International Conference of Asian Political Parties (held in Manila between 17 and 20 September 2000) by Surakiart Sathirathai, then deputy leader of the now defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, on behalf of his party leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, then Prime Minister of Thailand. It was suggested that Asia as a continent should have its own forum to discuss Asia-wide cooperation. Afterwards, the idea of the ACD was formally put forward during the 34th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Hanoi, 23–24 July 2001 and at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Phuket, 20–21 February 2002.

Ministerial meetings edit

Meeting Location Date(s)
1st   Cha-am 18–19 June 2002
2nd   Chiang Mai 21–22 June 2003
3rd   Qingdao 21–22 June 2004
4th   Islamabad 4–6 April 2005
5th   Doha 23–24 May 2006
6th   Seoul 5–6 June 2007
7th   Astana 16–17 October 2008
8th[4]   Colombo 15–16 October 2009
9th   Tehran 8–9 November 2010
10th   Kuwait City 10–11 October 2012
11th[5]   Dushanbe 29 March 2013
12th[6]   Manama 26 November 2013
13th[7]   Riyadh 25 November 2014
14th[8]   Bangkok 9–10 March 2016
15th[9]   Abu Dhabi 16–17 January 2017
16th[10]   Doha 30 April 2019
17th   Ankara 21 January 2021

Summits edit

Summit Location Dates
1st   Kuwait City 15–17 October 2012
2nd   Bangkok 8–10 October 2016
3rd   Doha 2023[11]

Member states edit

 MaldivesBangladeshBhutanNepalSri LankaIndiaMyanmarThailandCambodiaLaosVietnamBruneiIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeAfghanistanPakistanTurkmenistanIranAzerbaijanKazakhstanUzbekistanKyrgyzstanTajikistanChinaRussiaTurkeyJapanMongoliaSouth KoreaBahrainKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesSouth Asian Association for Regional CooperationBay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic CooperationMekong–Ganga CooperationAssociation of Southeast Asian NationsShanghai Cooperation OrganisationOrganization of Turkic StatesEconomic Cooperation OrganizationGulf Cooperation CouncilAsia Cooperation Dialogue
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various Asian regional organisations vde
 
Membership and expansion of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue:
  Founding members
  2003
  2004
  2005
  2006
  2008
  2010 or later

The ACD was founded by 18 members. Since May 2019, the organization consists of 35 states[12] as listed below (including all current members of the ASEAN and the GCC). Overlapping regional organization membership in italics.

Name Accession date Regional organization
  Afghanistan 17 October 2012 SAARC, ECO
  Bahrain 18 June 2002 GCC, AL
  Bangladesh 18 June 2002 SAARC, BIMSTEC
  Bhutan [t 1] 27 September 2004 SAARC, BIMSTEC
  Brunei 18 June 2002 ASEAN
  Cambodia 18 June 2002 ASEAN, MGC
  China 18 June 2002 SCO
  India 18 June 2002 SAARC, BIMSTEC, MGC, SCO
  Indonesia 18 June 2002 ASEAN
  Iran 21 June 2004 ECO
  Japan 18 June 2002
  Kazakhstan [t 2] 21 June 2003 CIS, ECO, SCO
  South Korea 18 June 2002
  Kuwait 21 June 2003 GCC, AL
  Kyrgyzstan[13] 16 October 2008 CIS, ECO, SCO
  Laos 18 June 2002 ASEAN, MGC
  Malaysia 18 June 2002 ASEAN
  Mongolia 21 June 2004
  Myanmar 18 June 2002 ASEAN, BIMSTEC, MGC
  Nepal 10 March 2016 SAARC, BIMSTEC
  Oman 21 June 2003 GCC, AL
  Pakistan 18 June 2002 SAARC, SCO, ECO
  Philippines 18 June 2002 ASEAN
  Palestine 1 May 2019 AL
  Qatar 18 June 2002 GCC, AL
  Russia [t 2] 4 April 2005 CIS, SCO
  Saudi Arabia 4 April 2005 GCC, AL
  Singapore 18 June 2002 ASEAN
  Sri Lanka 21 June 2003 SAARC, BIMSTEC
  Tajikistan 5 June 2006 CIS, ECO, SCO
  Thailand 18 June 2002 ASEAN, BIMSTEC, MGC
  Turkey[12][t 2] 26 September 2013 CoE,[t 3] ECO, NATO
  United Arab Emirates 21 June 2004 GCC, AL
  Uzbekistan 5 June 2006 CIS, ECO, SCO
  Vietnam 18 June 2002 ASEAN, MGC

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ One more membership request was finally confirmed at the ACD Breakfast Meeting of 27 September 2004
  2. ^ a b c Located partially in Europe.
  3. ^ Turkey is a European Union candidate since 1999.

References edit

  1. ^ "Asia Cooperation Dialogue". www.acd-dialogue.org.
  2. ^ Corresponds to the terrestrial surface. Including the Exclusive Economic Zones of each member state, the total area is 73 936 667 km².
  3. ^ a b "From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Arrangements for media coverage of the 8th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting October 2009" (PDF). Retrieved 15 September 2009.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Thaksin's Statement at the 11th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting". wordpress.com. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  6. ^ "12th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting held in Bahrain". xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  7. ^ "32 ministers to attend Riyadh conference". Arab News.com. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Chairman's Statement 14th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 September 2016.
  9. ^ "15th ACD Ministerial Meeting, 16–17 January 2017, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates". 17 January 2017.
  10. ^ "16th ACD Ministerial Meeting, 30 April 2019, Doha, Qatar". 17 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Asia Cooperation Dialogue". www.acd-dialogue.org. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  12. ^ a b "No: 253, 26 September 2013, Press Release on Turkey's Membership to the Asia Cooperation Dialogue". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  13. ^ "Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun Attends the 7th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Foreign Ministers'Meeting in Kazakhstan". Retrieved 28 June 2010.

Further reading edit

  • Why We Need an Asian Union
  • European Policy Centre (2005-01): EU and Asian Integration Processes Compared
  • The Guardian (2005-04-12): Hopes and Fears of an Asian Union
  • International Herald Tribune (2005-06-18): Toward an 'Asian Union'?
  • Asia Times (2005-10-01): Hedging China with FTAs
  • International Herald Tribune (2005-12-16): An Asian Union? Not Yet
  • Bangkok Post (2006-05-19): Towards a Truly Pan-Asian Community
  • China Daily (2007-04-21): Asian Integration Still a Long Way Off
  • Tehran Times (2010-03-14): Ahmadinejad Proposes Establishment of Asian Union

External links edit

  • Asia Cooperation Dialogue
  • Asia Regional Integration Center
  • Association for Asian Union
  • Boao Forum for Asia
  • New Asia Forum
  • Society for Asian Integration