This photo taken on June 22, 2003 shows the Second Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. Foreign ministers and representatives from 18 Asian countries attended the meeting which opened Sunday.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathiratai (C) hosts the Second Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, June 22, 2003. Foreign ministers and representatives from 18 Asian countries attended the meeting which opened Sunday.

¡¡¡¡CHIANG MAI, Thailand, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The Second Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) wound up Sunday after issuing the Chiang Mai Declaration on Asian Bond Market Development.

¡¡¡¡Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said at the closing ceremony that the creation of the Asian Bond Fund and the Asian Bond Market represents the new architecture of the world of differences.

¡¡¡¡"It is a powerful instrument that will enable surplus capital from one Asian country to create wealth in another," he said, adding it would greatly contribute not only to ensuring the full recovery of Asian economies but also to promoting the adoption of best practices in Asia's capital market development.

¡¡¡¡Thaksin was pleased to see that the 18 ACD members expressed their willingness to get together in consolidating their strength.

¡¡¡¡"The success of the ACD is only the beginning of our long road to bridge the missing link and to build unity among Asian countries. Our aim is to make the continent of Asia a much better place to live in for our respective people," the prime minister said.

¡¡¡¡Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai said at the closing ceremony, "We committed ourselves to building up the dual dimensions of the ACD for strengthening Asia-wide cooperation, namely dialogue and projects."

¡¡¡¡So far, 14 ACD members have volunteered to take the lead in launching 17 region-wide cooperation projects, including agricultural cooperation project by China, environmental project by Japan, establishment of ACD biotechnology consortium by India, small and medium sized enterprises cooperation by Singapore and tourism by Thailand.

¡¡¡¡The foreign minister also announced the list of ACD's four new members, which brought the number of ACD members to 22. They are Kazakhstan, Oman, Sri Lanka and Kuwait.

¡¡¡¡The Chiang Mai Declaration "will act as a catalyst to spur the development of a solid, efficient and sustainable Asian bond market for the betterment of Asia and its financial system," said Surakiat.

¡¡¡¡The Asia Bond Fund (ABF), launched earlier this month by the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) Group, will have an initial size of about 1 billion US dollars and will be invested in a basket of US dollar denominated bonds issued by major Asian economies.

¡¡¡¡Participants of the meeting welcomed to the active role of ACD in building a sound and stable financial system, which is in the interest of countries and peoples of the Asian region.

¡¡¡¡In the Chiang Mai declaration, the ministers of ACD recognized the historic significance of Asia Cooperation Dialogue inauguratedin Cha-Am, Thailand in June 2002 and the commitment of the 18 member countries to enhance Asia-wide cooperation and mutual prosperity through the combined strengths and diversities.

¡¡¡¡The participants of the meeting have agreed to make efforts to develop a strong and resilient financial system in order to prevent future economic and financial crises and to take concerted steps needed to reduce the region's vulnerability to fluctuationsin international movements.

¡¡¡¡The ministers also encouraged wide variety of issuers to issue bond denominated in Asian currencies to contribute to the stability of the financial markets.

¡¡¡¡It was announced at the closing cession that China will host the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue next year.Enditem

Second ACD ministerial meeting opens in Thailand

¡¡¡¡CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The Second Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) opened Sunday in Chiang Mai, the second largest city of Thailand.

¡¡¡¡Foreign Ministers and their representatives from 18 Asian ountries are partipating in the meeting focusing on cooperation on regional finance, security and free trade and investment process.

¡¡¡¡Prior to Sunday's opening, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Surakiart Sathirathai has said that the closed-door ministerial meeting will discuss and review reports of regional cooperation in 17 fields including agriculture, tourism, energy security, development of small-and medium-sized enterprises, e-commerce and proverty relief.

¡¡¡¡He said participants of the meeting will seek ways to jointly promote the regional cooperation in an effort to realize mutual prosperity.

¡¡¡¡Regional cooperation on financical field, especially the framework building of the Asian Bond Market, is the top subject for discussion and 18 ACD members are expected to issue Chiang Mai Declaration on Asian Bond Market Development at the end of the meeting and announce the inauguration of the Asian Bond Fund.

¡¡¡¡Economic experts here believed that the inauguration of the Asian Bond Fund will lay a foundation for the establishment of the Asian Bond Market.

¡¡¡¡The ministerial meeting will also create many opportunities for bilateral talks for the participants of the meeting.

¡¡¡¡Visiting Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Li Zhaoxing met with Thai Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra Saturday, and held talks with foreign ministers of Thailand, Bangladesh, Parkistan, the Philippines and Indonesia respectively.

¡¡¡¡Initiated by Thailand, the first ACD ministerial meeting was held in June, 2002 in Cha-am, a city in southern Thailand. Enditem