Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade RGOB
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lyonpo Damcho Dorji is leading the Bhutanese delegation to the 14th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Bangkok, which is being held from 09-10 March 2016.
Lyonpo is attending the meeting on the invitation of the Thai Foreign Minister and Chair of the Ministerial meeting H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai. The Ministerial meeting was preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting to which Foreign Secretary Tshering Dorji led the delegation. The Bhutanese delegation includes officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Bangkok.
The 14th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting with the theme “ACD – The Way Forward” discussed regional economic integration; interconnectivity; sustainable development and mechanisms on further strengthening the ACD process. The meeting also considered the proposal of upgrading the Provisional Secretariat to a Permanent Secretariat, and reprioritizing the existing 20 areas of cooperation under six priority pillars. The outcome of the Ministerial meeting is to be submitted to the 2nd ACD Summit which is tentatively scheduled to be held in October 2016 in Thailand. The Ministerial meeting also formally endorsed the accession of Nepal as its 34th member country.
On the sidelines of the ACD Ministerial Meeting, Lyonpo also held bilateral meeting with the Thai Foreign Minister. The two sides expressed satisfaction with the close and growing ties between the two countries and discussed ways of further enhancing the relations. Lyonpo also met the UNESCAP Executive Secretary Dr. Shamshad Akhtar.
ACD is a Asia-wide cooperation framework established in June 2002 with the main objective of promoting Pan-Asian Cooperation, expanding trade and financial market within Asia and enhancing Asia’s economic competitiveness in the global market. Bhutan became a member of ACD in 2004.
