Iran FM underscores ACD’s role in Asia

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Vladimir Norov in Tehran on the sidelines of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) meeting.

In the meeting, which was held in Tehran on Monday, Mottaki underlined the importance of the Uzbek delegation’s presence at the 9th ACD conference and pointed to the two states’ potential to improve their bilateral relations, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

Tehran is currently hosting the two-day ACD conference, which opened on November 8 and gathers officials from 31 Asian countries.

At the opening ceremony of the conference, the Iranian Foreign minister stated, “The ACD, with 31 members, is one of the largest and most comprehensive Asian groups,” ISNA reported.

“Various regional organizations from the west to the east of Asia are working actively and comprehensively [and the] ACD forum has paved the way for Asian states to discuss various issues,” he added.

The ACD is a continent-wide forum created in 2002 which aims to promote cooperation among Asian countries and to help integrate other regional cooperation organizations.

Mottaki also emphasized Iran’s capacity to transit goods between regional countries.

At the meeting, the Uzbek foreign minister said Tashkent is ready to increase its economic interactions with Tehran.

This year’s edition of the meeting is entitled, “Towards Asian Convergence and Unification: Promotion of Progress, Peace and Justice.”

ACD ministerial meetings were held in Thailand in 2002 and 2003, China in 2004, Pakistan in 2005, Qatar in 2006, South Korea in 2007, Kazakhstan in 2008, and Sri Lanka in 2009.

The next ACD meeting will be held in Kuwait and the 11th gathering will be in Tajikistan.