On 26 September 2013, during the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, attended the ACD Foreign Ministers’ Breakfast Meeting at the Millennium Hotel in New York.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong expressed his appreciation to Kuwait for hosting and taking the initiative to establish the ACD Provisional Secretariat, and announced Thailand’s nomination of Mr. Bundit Limschoon, a Minister-designate and seasoned diplomat, to serve as Secretary-General of the Provisional Secretariat.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister highlighted the following key priority areas in Asia-wide cooperation:
• further enhancement of connectivity to facilitate greater flows of trade, investment, and people-to-people contact,
• establishment of an Asian Development Fund to support projects in non-Arab Asian countries, and
• enhanced cooperation in energy and food security.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong also welcomed Turkey as a new ACD member and reiterated Thailand’s invitation for all ACD Leaders to attend the 2nd ACD Summit, to be held in Chiang Mai in March 2015.