18th Anniversary of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue

18th June 2020

The 18th day of June of every year is a historic day for all Member States of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) since the ACD was founded on this day of June 2002, where 18 Asian Foreign Ministers came together in Cha-Am, Thailand, to form an inter-governmental grouping, aiming to promote the Asian cooperation at the continental level to fill in the missing link in Asia by integrating the Asian countries to become an Asian Community. This year marks the 18th Anniversary of the ACD.

Originally, the ACD Secretariat had its plan to commemorate this anniversary, in close consultation with the State of Kuwait, the Host country. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, made it difficult to do so. Nonetheless, the Secretariat wishes to extend its sincere appreciation to the State of Kuwait for hosting and sponsoring the Secretariat since its establishment. We also wish to commend our 35 Member States for their enthusiasm and support provided to the Secretariat, without which the ACD would not have expanded in the Membership and still remains relevant to date. We look forward to organizing some activities to commemorate ACD Day next year.

Over the past 18 years, we had witnessed the “Spirit of ACD” through two Summits, 16 Ministerial Meetings, and numerous activities by our Member States under the 6 pillars of cooperation. This spirit is well reflected in our Vision to have all countries in Asia as Members, guided by the principles of informal dialogue, inclusiveness and complementarity, including shared interests, with commitment to cooperate with one another.

On this auspicious occasion, the ACD Secretariat wishes all Member States and their peoples a happy anniversary with good health and a speedy economic recovery after the pandemic.