Mr. Chairman, Your Excellency Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed   
     Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

It is my pleasure to be here in Manama for the 12th ACD Ministerial Meeting. I wish to thank the Kingdom of Bahrain for the excellent arrangements in hosting the Meeting and for the generous hospitality extended to my delegation.  As ACD Coordinator and a good friend of Bahrain, Thailand will continue to extend our full cooperation to Bahrain’s chairmanship in guiding us forward.

Eleven years ago in 2002, the ACD was set up as the first Asia-wide policy forum to increase Asia’s leverage with the rest of the world. Now more than ever, Asia is at the global centre stage – economically, socially and politically. The world’s attention is turning to Asia as a driving force for global growth.

The Asian Century has arrived. Now is the time for us to reinvigorate ACD so that it can be an important mechanism for harnessing all this potential.

One year after the historic 1st Summit, the ACD is indeed gaining new dynamism with Turkey joining us and the establishment of the ACD Provisional Secretariat in Kuwait City.

Today, the ACD continues on the journey to fulfill its mission and that is to consolidate Asia’s diverse strengths and competitiveness. And to unleash Asia’s vast potential which remains very much untapped.

Bahrain’s initiative to promote intra-Asian tourism serves this purpose very well as it draws on one of Asia’s greatest strengths. It is forecasted that over the next decade, Asia’s combined tourism industry will grow at the world’s fastest rate at 6 percent per year, at the same time creating over 40 million jobs.

For longer term benefits, we must ensure that our growth and development are both inclusive and sustainable. Promoting sustainable tourism should therefore be a core part of ACD tourism cooperation. The challenge is how to manage economic benefits of tourism while minimizing the negative environmental impacts.

Tourism, like any other economic sector, stands to benefit from improved transport infrastructure development. 

This is why Thailand is working to bridge Asia’s missing links – both road and rail – to pave a new Silk Route that will bring the Far East closer to Western and Central Asia.  To serve this end, Thailand held a Working Group Meeting on Enhanced ACD Regional Connectivity in Bangkok in July to seek ways forward for Pan-Asian Connectivity.  The key message was to build upon connectivity work that has been done by the UN regional commissions and the Asian Development Bank to link Asia with Europe.    

Thailand aims to work closely together with ACD Member States to draw up an ACD Connectivity Road Map. Hence we plan to convene an ACD Ministerial Meeting on Regional Connectivity in 2014.  We invite all of you to share your thoughts and insights at the meeting.

Pan-Asian Connectivity will benefit intra-Asian trade and investment. We need more trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.  This can be done under the ACD Connectivity Road Map or through other means such as by developing a trade and investment framework agreement or even an FTA. 

We also agree with the Chair that attention should also be given to financial cooperation, including by facilitating capital flows and linking capital markets. Crisis management capacity is also needed to cushion our economies from future financial crises.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

To maintain continued growth and development, food and energy security have to be seriously addressed.  I call for early implementation of the ACD Energy Action Plan, and urge for more cooperation on food security.  We may share expertise and experience in areas of interest, including food storage technology and halal food production and science. 

Also required are measures to prevent and minimize the impact of disasters, and come up with the most effective emergency relief and rebuilding operations. On this note, our sincerest condolences go out to those affected by the recent devastating Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.  To better prepare for future catastrophes, Tajikistan’s proposal for a coordination network of ACD early warning centres should be established soonest. 

To carry out these tasks, it is essential that the ACD is strengthened from within.  The establishment of the ACD Provisional Secretariat puts us on the right path. I thank all of you for entrusting Thailand to nominate the first Secretary-General. I assure you that Thailand remains committed to the institution building of the ACD, and we are ready to work with Member States towards the setting up of the Permanent Secretariat, if possible by the 2nd ACD Summit in 2015.

Before closing, allow me to suggest a few ways forward for the ACD.

First, we need to translate the ACD shared vision to action by conducting more focused activities on a more regular basis.

Second, initiatives proposed and approved at ACD Summits and Ministerial Meetings must be implemented without delay. The task to monitor and assess such progress lies with the Secretariat.

Third, some projects need financial support to move forward. In this regard, I call for the early operationalization of the ACD Development Fund and a discussion of ACD Permanent Secretariat and its funding.

Fourth, we need to keep a much closer dialogue throughout the year – through the Secretariat and invest time in a management focused meeting, either at the senior officials or working level.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,Thailand is committed to the continued development of the ACD. We are honoured to be hosting in 2015 the 14th ACD Ministerial Meeting and the 2nd ACD Summit. I would like to announce that a key theme of the Summit will be Pan-Asian Connectivity.

Last but not least, a bright and secure future can only be sustained amid peace. We can achieve this by promoting more dialogue, closer engagement, inclusive and sustainable growth.

It is out of this commitment to peace and security that Thailand is seeking election to a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2017-2018.  We count on your valuable support.

I look forward to our productive deliberations on ways ahead for ACD cooperation.

Thank you.