PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will lead Malaysia's delegation to the 2nd Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from Oct 9 to 10.
In a statement today, the Foreign Ministry said that based on the theme "One Asia, Diverse Strengths", the leaders were expected to review the progress of the implementation of decisions taken at the first Summit in 2012 and deliberate on the future direction of the ACD.
"They will also have a meeting with business leaders from member states, during which the business leaders will present the outcome of the ACD Connect Business Forum 2016 held the day before," it said.
The leaders were also expected to adopt three outcome documents, namely, the ACD Vision for Asia Cooperation 2030, the Bangkok Declaration of the 2nd ACD Summit, and the ACD Statement on Reigniting Growth through Partnerships for Connectivity.
"The three outcome documents were envisaged to reinforce the commitments of ACD Member States in enhancing future cooperation and partnerships among each other and utilising the advantages inherent in the Asian region more effectively in the future."
The ministry said Najib is scheduled to deliver Malaysia's statement at the plenary session on Oct 10.
"Malaysia plays an active role in the ACD and has taken on the role as ACD co-prime mover for the education and human resource development priority pillar," it said.
As co-prime mover, Malaysia had established the Asia-e-University in Kuala Lumpur in 2007, which serves to facilitate regional cooperation among member states, especially in the realm of e-education.
"Najib will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders at the margins of the Summit to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest," said the ministry.
"The prime minister's participation at the summit reflected Malaysia's continued commitment to strengthen the ACD as an effective pan-Asian regional forum," it added.
Established in 2002, the ACD is a platform that seeks to consolidate Asian strengths and competitiveness by maximising on the diverse strengths and rich resources in Asia. The ACD comprises 34 member states from all five sub-regions of Asia.