Manama, 10 August 2022 (TDI): The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs Bahrain, Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed chaired a virtual meeting for senior officials at Asia Cooperation Dialogue.
The meeting was held to address topics and review documents in preparation for the 18th ACD Ministerial Meeting.
The meeting was attended by the ACD Secretary-General Dr. Pornchai Danvivathana and representatives from ACD member states.
Shaikh Abdulla highlighted the role of Bahrain’s chairmanship of the ACD for 2021-2022. Moreover, he highlighted the theme for the year as “Post-Pandemic Sustainable Recovery.”
He further stressed the Kingdom’s commitment to the ACD’s objectives and values. The objectives are based on building strengths and diverse capabilities in Asia.
Furthermore, he noted that Bahrain has been a founding member of the ACD since its establishment.
Asia Cooperation Dialogue
Asia Cooperation Dialogue is a continent-wide forum, the first of its kind in Asia.
The ultimate objective of the ACD is to form a single and independent entity, or “Asian Community, without creating a bloc against any other institution.
A key principle of ACD is to consolidate Asian strengths and fortify Asia’s competitiveness by maximizing Asia’s diversity and rich resources.
The core values of the ACD are positive thinking, informality, voluntarism, and non-institutionalization. It also includes openness, respect for diversity, and comfort of its member states.
Lately, ACD has developed in two dimensions: dialogue and projects. The dialogue dimension consists of annual ACD Ministerial Meetings.
Foreign Ministers also meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. They review ACD cooperation and deepen “Asia’s voice” on the global stage.
On the project’s dimension, the areas of cooperation are energy, agriculture, biotechnology, tourism, poverty alleviation, IT development, e-education, and financial cooperation.
It is worth mentioning that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Bahrain, have supported cooperative efforts in many aforementioned areas.
Riffa Ansari is currently working as an Editor and Author at The Diplomatic Insight. She is studying International Relations at Kinnaird College for Women University, Lahore. She is an avid reader aiming to add to her knowledge.
