On Tuesday, 17 January 2017, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, attended the 15^th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, under the theme “Abu Dhabi, the Capital of Sustainable Energy”. The meeting was attended by 34 high-level representatives from 34 Member States.

The meeting was convened following the 2^nd ACD Summit in Bangkok in October 2016 to follow up on the agreed ACD Vision 2030, the Bangkok Declaration as well as the Statement on Reigniting Growth through Partnership for Connectivity. The Ministers reiterated their intention to drive the 6 pillars of cooperation forward for the shared benefit and the development of Asia, especially on the interrelation between water, food, and energy security for sustainable development. The meeting also agreed that the Prime Movers and Co-Prime Movers in each pillar should establish respective Working Groups to discuss plans of action as well as related activities.

The meeting adopted the Abu Dhabi Declaration and the ACD Energy Action Plan as outcome documents which emphasized the sustainable use of energy, renewable energy as well as exchanges of best practices in the field. Project proposals from Member States within the next 2 years were also discussed.

On this occasion, Thailand stressed the importance of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) as a useful model contributing to the sustainable use of food, water, and energy. As the Prime Mover in this pillar, Thailand also proposed an international training programme on “Microcredit and Sufficiency Economy Development” in 2017 with a view to help materialize the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, Thailand proposed the setting up of the Working Group on Sustainable Development as a mechanism to support future activities under this pillar.

While attending the 15^th ACD Ministerial Meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand met with H.E. Mr. Erian Addyldaev, the Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, where they agreed to further develop Thai-Kyrgyzstan relations and bolster economic cooperation in trade and investment.

The ACD was established in 2002 to discuss cooperation and promote understanding among Asian countries, drawing strengths from the diversity of each member states. At present, 34 Member States are part of the ACD and Thailand was the previous ACD Chair during September 2015-September 2016. Thailand hosted the 2^nd ACD Summit on 10 October 2016 before handing over the Chairmanship to the UAE in September 2016 in New York.