Ms. Chinami Nishimura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Attend the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Foreign Ministers' Meeting

October 13, 2009
Japanese

Ms. Chinami Nishimura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, will visit the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka from October 14 (Wed) to 17 (Sat) to attend the Eighth Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held in Colombo on October 15 (Thu). Foreign ministers and representatives from 31 Asian countries are also scheduled to attend, including H.E. George Yong-Boon Yeo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya, Foreign Minister of Thailand, and H.E. Dr. Dipu Moni, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. Discussions are scheduled to be held on the subjects of economic and financial affairs, the future of the ACD, and regional and international affairs.
Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nishimura will also take this opportunity to pay a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as well as to hold meetings with representatives from various member states. She will also exchange views with Japanese citizens taking part in activities in Sri Lanka.

(Reference 1) Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nishimura’s schedule

October 14 (Wed) Depart from Japan and arrive in Colombo

15 (Thu) ACD Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

16 (Fri) Depart Colombo

17 (Sat) Arrive in Japan

(Reference 2) The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)

The Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) provides an informal framework for dialogues and periodic exchanges of views between Foreign Ministers from the Asian countries. It was begun through an initiative by Thailand in 2002. Its goal is to strengthen the competitive power of Asia as a framework to strengthen and complement existing area frameworks.

There are 31 member states, which include Japan, China, ROK, the ASEAN states, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Oman, Kuwait, Iran, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

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