Statement by H.E. Long Yongtu,
Secretary-General of Bo'ao Forum For Asia
at the Opening Ceremony of the ACD High-level Seminar
on Asian Cooperation and Development
21st June in Qingdao, China
Your Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Welcome to Qingdao! Welcome to the ACD high-level seminar on Asian
Cooperation and Development!
This seminar is organized by ACD， Bo'ao Forum for Asia (BFA), Network of
East Asian Think Tanks (NEAT) of China and Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs
of Thailand. It presents before you an excellent model of cooperation between
Track I and Track II institutions operating in strengthening Asian cooperation
and dialogue. On behalf of organizers, I would like to take this opportunity to
congratulate and thank you all for your participation today.
The economic globalization and regional economic integration have presented
new opportunities to the development of Asian countries. As the return to the
joint efforts made by the Asian countries, we are witnessing growing cooperation
with mutual benefit.
Today's seminar will focus itself, based on the assessment of the current
situation of cooperation and development of Asia, on the study of the
competitive advantages of the ACD member states, in order to strengthen the
competitiveness of Asia as a whole.
The timing of this seminar, just one day prior to convening of the the 3rd
ACD Foreign Ministers' Meeting, would provide the necessary thrust in conveying
your message, that will emerge from this meeting today, to the policy makers of
Asia, and thus provide intellectual support to the inter-government dialogue and
communication.
Just in a very short span of three years, ACD has been successful in
initiating discussions on key Asian issues such as energy, agriculture, poverty
reduction on a continuous basis. In our bid to support ACD's efforts, special
attention has been paid to the design of this seminar by incorporating two main
themes, building competitiveness and public-private partnership without which
our race to catch the tide of globalization would be a distant dream.
The specific topics of energy and agriculture have turned into the lead
agenda for all of us. While the looming energy issue threatens sustainability of
economic growth in some of our countries, for others it would stunt the modest
recovery process. After CANCUN , the discussion on agriculture is warranted at
all levels everywhere. No one can afford to be complacent when most of us depend
on agriculture not only for sustenance but also is a way of life for many.
I am personally gratified to see among you so many distinguished scholars
and policy makers who have been making commendable contributions to the
development of your countries and that of Asia as a whole. By sharing your
experiences in a frank and forthright manner, you can certainly provide the
current policy makers the tools that they are looking for.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is not the first time that BFA has had the opportunity to work with
ACD. We had collaborated closely in a tourism conference in 2002 in Guilin. ACD
has proven that it is becoming increasingly effective in consolidating the
political will among Asian governments on common approaches to positive issues
on Asia-wide basis. BFA is also proving to be the magnet for Asian enterprises,
which are taking part in BFA interactive platforms with governments,
specifically Asians. The current seminar is a testimony of the budding relations
between these organizations fashioned along the Track I and Track II modalities.
It is our hope that the existing relations between ACD and BFA would grow in
years to come as we work for a common cause in our respective ways.
Now it is my honor to invite H.E. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, Foreign
Minister of Thailand, to address this gathering.
