Asia Cooperation Dialogue(ACD) is a pan-Asian cooperation framework founded in 2002 with 18 countries. The ACD is guided by the core value of positive thinking, informality, voluntarism, non-institutionalization, openness for diversity, and the comfort level of member countries. It aims to consolidate Asian strengths and fortify Asia's competitiveness by maximizing the diversity and rich resources in Asia. The forum constitutes the missing link in Asian cooperation via attempts to incorporate every Asian country, hence building an Asian Community that is neither duplicating other organizations nor creating bloc against others.

  - Year of Joining the ACD: The ROK is one of the founding members of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue(ACD)

  - ROK's Role in the ACD: After being designated as the prime mover for IT cooperation at the 2nd Ministerial meeting in Chiang Mai, 2002, the Republic of Korea has developed and carried out diverse IT cooperative projects designed to bridge the digital divide among the ACD members. These projects were pursued with two institutions as their proponents; Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion(KADO) and the Korean International Cooperation Agency(KOICA).

  - 1st ACD Ministerial Meeting: June 18~19 2002, Cha-am, Thailand
  - 2nd ACD Ministerial Meeting: June 21~22 2003, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  - 3rd ACD Ministerial Meeting: June 21~22 2004, Qingdao, China
  - 4th ACD Ministerial Meeting: April 4~6 2005, Islamabad, Pakistan
  - 5th ACD Ministerial Meeting: May 23~24 2006, Doha, Qatar
  - 6th ACD Ministerial Meeting: June 5~6 2007, Seoul, Korea
  - 7th ACD Ministerial Meeting: October 16 2008, Astana, Kazakhstan

Korea hosted the 6th ACD Ministerial Meeting in Seoul. The meeting focused on the issue of 'Digital Divide.' Many activities were organized during this meeting including an IT exhibition, as well as the launching of the new official ACD website and the ACD e-news publications. The 6th ACD Ministerial Meeting focused on deliberating issues of common interests concerning ACD developments, as well as issues of regional cooperation and ways to enhance and solidify Asian unity. Moreover, the meeting set in motion the ACD High-Level Study Group, a small-sized group with voluntary representation from the senior ranks of member countries' Foreign Affairs Ministries and academic communities to explore and make recommendations on the future directions of the ACD.

The 6th Ministerial Meeting set off the beginning of a new mechanism of coordination for the ACD. Ministers agreed on the creation of a Rotating Coordination Group comprising the previous host, current Chair, future host as well as Thailand, as the ACD Coordinator, to be responsible for preparing substantive matters for each year's annual ACD Ministerial Meeting. This Coordinating Group Meeting was organized for the first time in Seoul on April 3, 2007.

At the 7th Ministrial Meeting, ROK, the former ACD chair, reported the final recommendation of the ACD High-Level Study Group, which met in three separate occasions to discuss the specific future directions of the ACD.

Topics related to

These topics include (1) End Goals, (2) Desirability of an ACD Secretariat,  (3) Funding and other Mechanisms to Stimulate Progress, (4) Track ll Participation in the ACD Progress, (5) Cultural Cooperation, and  (6) Memmbership.

The 8th ACD Ministrial Meeting is scheduled to be held in 2009 in Sri Lanka.

URL : http://www.acddialogue.com