Asian Civilizations Usher In New Paradigm of Int’l Relations: Amirabdollahian

The ACD foreign ministers held a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, during which Iran assumed the chairmanship of the forum.

Founded in 2002 in Cha-Am, Thailand, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue is a continent-wide forum and the first of its kind in Asia. It has 35 members.

What follows is the text of the Iranian foreign minister’s speech at the meeting:

Your Excellency Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain,

Honorable Fellow Ministers,

Distinguished Secretary General, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is pleasure for me to attend this ACD Ministerial meeting today. We are grateful to Kingdom of Bahrain for chairing ACD in the last two years. ACD Secretary General and his team also deserve gratitude.

Two decades ago, ACD was established as a framework for Asia-wide dialogue for cooperation. As highlighted in its Vision document adopted in 2016, ACD can play a significant role through sharing aspirations and capabilities of its Member States for creation of an “Asian Community”. There is no doubt that our rich and old Asian civilizations can empower us to collectively bring about a new paradigm of global relations based on justice, inclusion, dialogue, friendship and multilateralism. ACD has a lot of untapped potential and resources towards its noble goals and objectives.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is quite confident in the ACD’s value for Asia, and for the entire world. This is why we have been actively involved in ACD activities. Iran chaired process leading to “ACD Blueprint 2021-2030”. It was a great success, thanks to active participation of the Member States and the ACD Secretariat.

This is a deep pleasure for me to take over our responsibilities as the new ACD Chair. The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to maximize its contribution to the ACD during its chairmanship, in close coordination with the Member States and the Secretariat. We need to collectively focus on the implementation of the Blueprint, particularly activities within its 6 pillars of cooperation. Recently, the distinguished ACD Secretary General conducted consultations with me and my colleagues in Tehran on some measures and activities ahead. As the Chairman, the Islamic Republic of Iran will hold constant exchange of views and consultations with Member States on ways and means to strengthen ACD and its profile. The Islamic Republic of Iran will soon share more information on some proposed activities during our chairmanship. 

Dear Fellow Ministers,

I will be honored to host you in Iran when we meet again in the 19th ACD Ministerial Meeting. Iran will also sponsor or co-sponsor some events and activities in line with the implementation of the Blueprint and the Vision. As is the practice in ACD, we selected “A more Inter-connected and Empowered Asia through New and Emerging Technologies” as the theme for our ACD chairmanship. A concept paper on the theme will be soon shared with the ACD Member States through the Secretariat.  

To conclude, let me recall the excellent hospitality extended to the ACD Secretariat by the State of Kuwait. My colleagues have already started consultations with Kuwaiti officials on ways and means to further strengthen the Secretariat. 

I thank you for your attention.