15th ACD Ministerial Meeting, 16-17 January 2017, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The 15th Ministerial Meeting of Asian Cooperation Dialogue, ACD, convened in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 17 January 2017 from 10.00 AM - 5.00 PM at the Anantara Eastern Mangrove Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with foreign ministers and heads of delegations from member states taking part in the event. His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation chaired the meeting and welcomed all participants to Abu Dhabi.
Held under the theme "Abu Dhabi, the Capital of Sustainable Energy," the gathering demonstrated the UAE's commitment to ensuring that the ACD coincides with the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which is an ideal platform for dialogue and international co-operation to discuss key issues and find global solutions in the sectors of clean energy, water, environment and sustainability. In his inaugural speech, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah praised the Kingdom of Thailand for hosting the Second ACD Summit in Bangkok last October. The summit reflected the keenness of Asian leaders to bolster the gathering in a bid to achieve a common vision for Asian Cooperation Dialogue 2030. The United Arab Emirates also believes that the ACD Vision 2030 contributes to strengthening the gains of international co-operation, and has an important role in promoting a comprehensive dialogue among the countries regarding the most important issues and trends, notably the economic, social and development agendas.
The Ministers reiterated their intention to drive the 6 pillars of cooperation forward for the shared benefit and the development of Asia. The meeting also agreed that the Prime Movers and Co-Prime Movers in each pillar should establish respective Working Groups to discuss plans of action as well as related activities. The meeting adopted the Abu Dhabi Declaration as outcome document which recognize, understand and highlight the importance of nexus/interrelation between food, water, and energy security as critical to achieve long term sustainability.
Overall the discussions were pleasant, the atmosphere consensual, thoughtful and comfortable- compliments and pleasantries were exchanged.