The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) is an intergovernmental organization created on 18 June 2002 to promote Asian cooperation at a continental level and to ensure coordination among different regional organizations such as the ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the SAARC. It is the first international organization to cover the whole of Asia. Its secretariat is in Kuwait City.
History The idea of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue was raised at the First International Conference of Asian Political Parties (held in Manila in September 2000) by Surakiart Sathirathai, then deputy leader of the now defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, on behalf of his party leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, then Prime Minister of Thailand. It was suggested that Asia as a continent should have its own forum to discuss Asia-wide cooperation. Afterwards, the idea of the ACD was formally put forward during the 34th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Hanoi in July 2001 and at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Phuket in February 2002.
Ministerial meetings Meeting Location Date(s) 1st Cha-am 18–19 June 2002 2nd Chiang Mai 21–22 June 2003 3rd Qingdao 21–22 June 2004 4th Islamabad 4–6 April 2005 5th Doha 23–24 May 2006 6th Seoul 5–6 June 2007 7th Astana 16–17 October 2008 8th Colombo 15–16 October 2009 9th Tehran 8–9 November 2010 10th Kuwait City 10–11 October 2012 11th Dushanbe 29 March 2013 12th Manama 26 November 2013 13th Riyadh 25 November 2014 14th Bangkok 9–10 March 2016 15th Abu Dhabi 16–17 January 2017 16th Doha 30 April 201917th Ankara 21 January 202118th New York September 20-21, 2023
Summits Summit Location Dates 1st Kuwait City 15–17 October 2012 2nd Bangkok 8–10 October 2016 3rd Doha 2–3 October 2024
Member states
The ACD was founded by 18 members. Since May 2019, the organization consists of 35 states as listed below (including all current members of the ASEAN and the GCC). Overlapping regional organization membership in italics.
NameAccession dateRegional organization SAARC, ECOGCC, ALSAARC, BIMSTEC One more membership request was finally confirmed at the ACD Breakfast Meeting of 27 September 2004SAARC, BIMSTECASEANASEAN, MGCSCOSAARC, BIMSTEC, MGC, SCOASEANECO, SCO— CIS, ECO, SCO—GCC, ALCIS, ECO, SCOASEAN, MGCASEAN—ASEAN, BIMSTEC, MGCSAARC, BIMSTECGCC, ALSAARC, SCO, ECOASEANALGCC, AL Located partially in Europe.CIS, SCOGCC, ALASEANSAARC, BIMSTECCIS, ECO, SCOASEAN, BIMSTEC, MGCCoE,Turkey is a European Union candidate since 1999. ECO, NATOGCC, ALCIS, ECO, SCOASEAN, MGC
See also Asia Council Asia–Europe Meeting Asian Clearing Union Asian Currency Unit Asian Development Bank Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Asian Parliamentary Assembly Belt and Road Initiative Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia Continental regional organizations Continental union East Asia Community Eurasian Economic Union International organization Pan-Asianism Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Notes
References
Further reading Why We Need an Asian Union European Policy Centre (2005-01): EU and Asian Integration Processes Compared The Guardian (2005-04-12): Hopes and Fears of an Asian Union International Herald Tribune (2005-06-18): Toward an 'Asian Union'? Asia Times (2005-10-01): Hedging China with FTAs International Herald Tribune (2005-12-16): An Asian Union? Not Yet Bangkok Post (2006-05-19): Towards a Truly Pan-Asian Community China Daily (2007-04-21): Asian Integration Still a Long Way Off Tehran Times (2010-03-14): Ahmadinejad Proposes Establishment of Asian Union
External links Asia Cooperation Dialogue Asia Regional Integration Center Association for Asian Union Boao Forum for Asia New Asia Forum Society for Asian Integration