H.E. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, is scheduled to attend the 15th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), which will be held on 17 January 2017 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

          UAE, as the current Chair of ACD and the Prime Mover of the Interrelation of Food, Water and Energy Security, will host the 15th Ministerial Meeting of ACD under the main theme of “Abu Dhabi, the Capital of Sustainable Energy”. The discussion of the meeting will be on (1) Energy-Water-Food Nexus, (2) the Use of Energy in Sustainable Development, and (3) Research and Development. The Ministers will adopt the Abu Dhabi Declaration as the outcome document.

          The Meeting will be an opportunity for Thailand, as the host of the 2nd ACD Summit in October 2016, to follow up the initiatives set forth by the Leaders and translate the Summit’s outcomes into concrete actions, as well as highlighting Thailand’s role as the Prime Mover of “Promoting Approaches to Inclusive and Sustainable Development” pillar by exchanging experiences on home-grown approaches to sustainable development among ACD Member States. Thailand will show case her experiences and best practices on the application of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) as an approach to sustainable development in pursuit of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

          The ACD was launched in 2002 by Thailand as an Asian regional policy discussion platform to promote understanding, mutual trust, inclusive cooperation, and to drive towards an Asian community utilizing the diverse strengths and potentials of ACD members. Currently, there are 34 members from all regions of Asia. Thailand served as the ACD Chair during September 2015 –2016, and hosted the 2nd ACD Summit in Bangkok on 10 October 2016 where the Leaders adopted the ACD Vision for Asia Cooperation 2030, committing to build an Asian community in the next 14 years through sustainable development. Thailand handed over the ACD chairmanship to UAE in September 2016.