“In a bid to fight poverty and improve the standard of living … I propose an initiative to set up a $ 2 billion program,” Sheikh Sabah said as he opened the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit. “In this context, I am pleased to announce that Kuwait will contribute $ 300 million to the fund.”
Sheikh Sabah proposed that a pan-Asian development agency, like the Asian Development Bank, manage the program that will finance development projects in the least developed Asian nations.
Welcoming the distinguished guests, Sheikh Sabah said that their participation in the event “indeed confirms your keenness on preserving this important dialogue, and the need for all of us to work on its activation, development, and promotion to meet our aspirations and expectations.
It also pleases me to welcome the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as a member in our forum, which reflects the growing interest in the forum and its objective in promoting development and stability for the people of our continent.”
The Amir added, “this summit is being held after more than a decade of the establishment of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Forum, under changing political circumstances and suffocating economic crises at the global level; their consequences are still being felt and are causing serious challenges to our continued efforts and attempts at upgrading the levels of development of our continent to achieve the ambitions and aspirations of its peoples.
This requires that we all intensify our efforts and utilize our meetings to discuss in depth and with objectivity these challenges, analyze their causes and contain their impact in order to avoid their recurrence. This will preserve the stability of our countries and permit them to achieve ambitious and effective levels of growth.”
“Today, we find that we are called upon to develop the mechanism of our cooperation, taking into consideration the visions and the common determination commensurate with our deeply rooted relations that characterized the ministerial meetings, and enabling us to advance our joint work to a wider horizon,” Sheikh Sabah said.
In this regard, he called for submitting scenarios and concepts consistent with the size of responsibilities in order to pave the way for their implementation. “In this concern, Kuwait has the pleasure to host any mechanism which would be agreed upon by experts of our countries in their coming meeting.
Achieving the economic cooperation we desire requires the creation of an investment-friendly environment and the necessary enactment of legislations to promote such environments, to stimulate intra-regional trade between our countries, as well as attention to infrastructure common to our countries, particularly in the fields of transportation and communication that will increase the exchange of goods and services,” Sheikh Sabah underlined in his speech.
The Amir said that optimal realization of the potential of Asian countries and their cooperation is in the realization of economic integration, which will enable the establishment of strong and robust economies, able to meet challenges and overcome obstacles.
“In addition, it will accomplish a qualitative move in raising the standards of living of the peoples of the continent. “It should be noted, that the greatest challenge we face is the accelerating population growth in our continent, that has exceeded 60 percent of the total population of the world.
This places a burden on our efforts and development plans to achieve the development and progress of our continent. Consequently, this makes it incumbent upon us to work without delay in devising the necessary plans for the optimum utilization of human and natural resources in our Asian continent.”
Sheikh Sabah said that the modern world in general, and the Asian continent in particular, face serious problems, such as poverty, inadequate healthcare, illiteracy, wars and environmental problems.
“They are obstacles that hampered development in our continent and delayed the fulfillment of what we desire for our countries and peoples. We are still suffering the consequences of an economic crisis that did not spare any of our countries, increasing the numbers of unemployed persons, thus increasing the level of poverty among the peoples of our continent.
This increases the responsibilities we bear, and prompt us to act without delay to achieve economic integration between our countries by providing work opportunities and job security.”
In order to face repercussions of this crisis, the Amir noted that what is required is to participate in drawing up a new map for a new financial order that accomplishes progress and modernity, by keeping pace with the most sophisticated international standards and the best banking and fiscal practices.
“We are also called upon to work collectively to combat diseases and epidemics, help the states that need vaccines and medicines in order to prepare a healthy Asia capable of contributing to the achievement of sustainable social and economic development of our countries.
HH the Amir also called upon to devise comprehensive strategies that will raise the level of education and correlate the needs of Asian societies in terms of manpower and educational output.
“We must exert every effort to reform our environment, and to use modern technology to meet the challenges of the successive climate changes for the achievement of the security of our environment. Aware as we are of the importance of cooperation in the field of development, and the goals that the Asia Cooperation Dialogue seek to achieve, including combating poverty and improving the level of living for the people of Asia, I seize the opportunity of this meeting today.”
Sheikh Sabah suggested assigning one of the development institutions in Asia, such as the Asian Development Bank, to manage the proposed financial resources, as well as supervise their utilization in implementing projects in the interest of the Least Developed Countries that benefit exclusively from the resources of the Bank and are the most in need of these resources.
“In this context, I am pleased to announce the contribution of Kuwait to this program in the amount of 300 million dollars. It is my hope that we can provide the proposed amount through contributions from member states of the ACD Forum. Furthermore, Kuwait; keen on furthering its cooperation with the Asian countries, is willing to join the Asian Development Bank Group.”
“Our continent has suffered from devastating wars that have exhausted our economies, claimed the lives of many of our citizens, and led to the hampering of development in our countries. In those wars – that accomplished nothing but death, destruction and degradation – we were all the biggest losers.
From this podium, we call for the language of reason and dialogue to prevail, as well as to distance our countries from ruin and destruction by respecting our charters, agreements and conventions and by resolving our differences by peaceful means without interfering in the internal affairs of one another, to present to the world an upgraded model for dealing with crises and the ability to overcome them in a manner that preserves the integrity of our countries, the sophistication of our societies, and the prosperity of our economies.”
Sheikh Sabah underlined that the demonstration of the deep-rootedness and integration of Asia is the distinguished feature of incorporating a diversity of cultures, civilizations and religions, despite their different ethnicities and religions, as the people of Asia are accustomed to coexist among each other, thereby reinforcing the principle that “knowing each other is better than ignoring each other, and coexistence is better than fighting, and standing by each other is better than being rivals of each other”.
“Such principles must be emphasized, and their implementation encouraged. No life can be just if one of us attempts to deny or abolish the other. Moreover, adhering to the principles of human rights, as the fundamental pillar of a free and dignified life, considering the rights and freedom they contain, shall provide stability to our countries and peace of mind to our people,” he added.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai hoped Asian countries will contribute for the good of the entire continent, and look into ACD potentials to explore further cooperation. He noted cultural and civilization diversity in the Asian continent, hoping dialogue within ACD strengthened regional cooperation “for our continent and beyond”.
The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon said he was confident the ACD – which consists of 32 countries – can have inter-governmental dialogue at the highest level.
Tajikistan, he said, believed cooperation within ACD will contribute to economic integration between Asian countries. “It is necessary to have new initiatives to expand our economies,” he said.
Rahmon said opportunity in transport, communication and infrastructure could contribute to further develop Asian countries. Asia, he said, could enhance global economic growth, and capable of resolving challenges facing the Asian people. Other domains of cooperation between the Asian countries include security, technology, information technology, agriculture, environment and tourism, said the president.
Addressing the ACD summit’s evening session, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed full support for the ACD. He said the unprecedented political and economic challenges needed to be addressed through outlining a mechanism to “strengthen our capabilities”.
Yassin said one of the major challenges facing Asia was food security. He called for boosting food chains and supplies coupled with investment in infrastructure projects.
The other challenge, he noted, was the global economic crisis which was negatively affecting countries around the globe. “We should exert efforts to address other economic problems and reform the global financial system.” Yassin said ACD countries should boost competitiveness by using all resources and safeguarding their values. He said Malaysia seeks to transform the Asian community into an active player around the globe.
Saudi deputy foreign minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, who heads his country’s delegation to the ACD summit, said the financial crisis and rising food prices were the main issue dominating the international arena, noting that the international community has issued many decisions to overcome this crisis.
As for food security, he said, Saudi Arabia donated $ 500 million in aid of 62 countries to overcome this problem. Prince Abdulaziz praised the Asian economic development and called for need to cooperate in smart energy. Saudi Arabia, he added, was keen on oil prices stability as energy security equalled stability of supply and demand.
In his speech, the Special Representative of the Chinese President called for cooperation among Asian countries to make Asia stronger and boost knowledge and cultural dialogue among Asian nations.
“We have more capabilities to grow, and that illustrated during the past decade of cooperation and dialogue. Therefore, we should try to resolve social and economic disagreements and work with more transparency,” he said. He stressed the need to face any crisis, as witnessed in northern Asia, Africa and Europe, “which threatened our stability and development”.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf referred to Asia’s huge potential. “It’s time to exploit it and develop its nations in all fields,” he said. Ashraf said that the time had come to the put the spotlight on Asian resources and protect them through setting policies and strategies and to address the financial crisis, adding that his country would host the Second World Summit on energy this year.
He called for optimal use of water resources to maintain them in the future and the preservation of the environment and sustainable development.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Asian countries should be capable of running the world because they were the victims of two world wars and discrimination exercised by the world on the political, economic and social domains. Asia is still suffering from crises like in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to challenges at social level like terrorism, drugs, natural disasters and family troubles, he said. The Asian continent has large assets of energy, transport networks and agriculture, said Ahmadinejad.
The people of Asia, added the Iranian leader, should rely on their giant cultural, human and production capabilities to overcome all challenges. He added that ACD countries should boost trade and economic exchange, as well as overcome all obstacles facing this exchange, like reducing custom tariffs. Ahmadinejad urged ACD members to explore means of tackling financial and economic problems, as well as contribute to sustainable economic development.
Senior parliamentary secretary at Singapore’s ministry of foreign affairs Sam Tan Chin Siong said his country was seeking to develop the Asian community and the development of member states, thus improving level of interdependence among Asian countries. He added that the time has come to exploit Asian resources, and called for taking necessary steps to address the economic crisis.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed expressed his belief that the new century was “the century of Asia”, which would play a key role in world economies.
“We must design our ideas in the form of effective collaborative programs,” he said, expressing India’s readiness to turn this challenge into reality. “We need to achieve security, peace and cooperation through programs and ideas of this summit, which offers opportunities for Asian dialogue to play an active role in global economies. Development issues are mainly concentrated on new technologies that have a significant impact on development of industries.”
He stressed that his country attached great importance to transport among Asian countries and has begun a new project to transport connectivity among member states through a network of roads and railways and a strong infrastructure. Ahamed stressed the keenness of India to support a shared vision for the development of Asian dialogue in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture, education, financial and economic cooperation, the environment and other “and we have to adopt the perspective of immediate coordination between member states”.
