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s Europe and the US are bleeding from the ongoing global financial crisis, it is time for Asia to consolidate itself and enhance concrete cooperation among Asian countries for the benefit of Asian people.

Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah highlighted the need for action and said that the era of dialog and mutual consultation is over.

“A whole decade passed on our annual consultations and dialogues, during which our genuine desire to cooperate and develop joint action was embodied in order to promote our dialogue into a mechanism beneficiary for our people’s prosperity and welfare,” Al-Sabah said at the opening of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting at Sheraton Hotel in Kuwait City on Sunday.

Kuwait is hosting the historic Asian Cooperation Dialogue Summit from Tuesday to Wednesday. The ACD, an informal forum of foreign ministers of Asian countries, was established by then Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Cha Am, the birthplace of ASEAN.

Its main objective is to foster mutual cooperation in key areas such as agriculture, food, energy, industrialization, health, education, natural disasters and poverty eradication among Asian countries.

After 10 years of the ACD and numerous dialogues, Kuwait, a tiny but oil rich state, would like to transform this informal forum into a larger and powerful institution comprising 32 members from all corners of Asia, including Russia.

“We would like to have a permanent entity for the ACD and a headquarters in Kuwait City,” Kuwait Foreign Ministry undersecretary Kaled Al Jaraullah told local media on Saturday after chairing the
Senior Officials’ meeting.

Indonesia, a founding member of the ACD as well as a co-prime mover in the field of energy, is not represented by a minister at the meeting. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was planning to attend the ministerial meeting but suddenly cancelled.

According to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuwait, Indonesia is being represented by head of bureau for
facilitation of energy crisis response Saleh Abdurrahman.

Indonesian Embassy first secretary Aris Triyono told that Indonesia would be represented by Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa at the ACD Summit.

Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Rudy Rubiandini will also be accompanying Hatta because Indonesia is basically handling energy issues at the ACD.

The ACD will be attended by Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Iranian President Ahmedinejad, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman, among others.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, in his capacity as ACD coordinator, emphasized the need for promoting economic development and cooperation in Asia.

“To attain regional prosperity, we must increase cooperation in areas where our diverse strengths and assets are complementary,” Surapong said in his speech at the meeting.

Kuwait is in a better position, thanks to its enormous oil wealth, to transform the ACD into a permanent entity to yield real benefits.

So far, Kuwait has allocated US$5.5 billion for assisting development projects and grants to Asian countries.