Thai PM proclaims 2012 ACD Summit in Kuwait successful

KUWAIT, October 17 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has proclaimed the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit 2012 in Kuwait successful, as Thailand has been well-recognized and leaders of participating countries have agreed to increase cooperation in all areas to practically solve pending or emerging problems. After the end of the ACD Summit 2012, Yingluck told journalists that participating leaders also agreed with Thailand’s proposal on organizing ACD summits on the continual basis, with Thailand to, again, host the ACD ministerial meeting and summit in 2015. Yingluck acknowledged that this year's ACD summit also agreed with another Thai proposal on developing physical networks in Asia, covering the connection of transportation networks between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the rest parts of Asia, as well as social and cultural networks. The Thai prime minister pointed out as ACD has 32 member countries with their combined population accounting for about 60 per cent of the world population, the member countries should, therefore, join forces to reduce poverty, relieve disasters and cope with economic problems collectively, expressing her hopes that such the cooperation will further strengthen the region. On the occasion, Kuwait announced to contribute some 300 million US dollars to development projects in the region and would later discuss details with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). For Thailand, Premier Yingluck noted, the Kingdom needs to further develop urban electric railways and high-speed railways first and also needs to further develop its food production, as it is a major source of food in the region. The Thai prime minister, meanwhile, attended the closing ceremony of the 2012 ACD Summit and was scheduled to meet the Tajikistani president, the Kuwaiti prime minister and Thai business operators in Kuwait, before returning to Thailand on Thursday morning (Thailand's time). (TNA)