KALADAN NEWS

Date: April 6, 2005

Burmese Foreign Minister takes part in Asian Co-op Dialogue in Pakistan

Chittagong, April 6: The Burmese Foreign Minister U Nyan Win took part in a pre-conference seminar held in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan yesterday.

He left Rangoon on April 4, with an official invitation from his Pakistani counterpart Mr. Khurshid M. Kasuri, while some SPDC officials along with Pakistani Ambassador to Burma Mr. Mohammed Newaz Choudury see off him at Rangoon International Airport, report Myanma Alinn of 4^th April 2005.

The pre-conference was held to open the Asian Cooperative Dialogue which holds from 5^th to 7^th of the month with sidelines of 26 members from the Asian giants’ foreign ministers.

At the pre-conference seminar of yesterday, experts from member countries analyzed the challenges facing the region and came up with recommendations for the conference. The Asian Cooperation Dialogue, or ACD, groups Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, Mongolia, United Arab Emirates and Bhutan.

Mr. Khurshid M. Kasuri, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan said in a statement that “the forum is a way of shaping the events for a better future for the people of this continent and to promote peace and cooperation in Asia, while Mr. Khurshid held meeting with his counterparts from a number of countries. Ways and means of improving bilateral relations between various countries and Pakistan was discussed, it added.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was the keynote speaker at the opening session, who hosted ministers’ meetings last year. Foreign Ministers from 17 countries will attend along with senior officials from the other nations there.

Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, the former Foreign Minister of Thailand said in his keynote address towards an "Asia Cooperation Dialogue" at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore, 17 July 2001, that “Spirit of friendship, we are refocusing on our cooperation with Burma covering a range of areas of high potentials namely, trade, investment, energy and infrastructural networks. Both Thailand and Burma will discuss priorities in road linkages between our countries to complete the "East-West Corridor" project and to create alternative routes for future enhancement of trade and investment.

With a similar intention, a meeting was held in Dhaka on March 28, 2005 with financial task force leader of Burma, U Han Zaw, the Burmese Ambassador to Bangladesh U Thane Myint from Burma side, while Eng. Md. Edris Mia, the Chief of technical task force of Bangladesh, Communication Secretary Shafiqul Islam and Roads and Highways Chief Engineer Faijur Rahman represented from Bangladesh side.

In the meeting, they discussed the progress of implementation as well as the potential financing sources for the link road project which aims at enhancing regional cooperation and promoting socio-economic progress strengthening economic and trade relations in the South and Southeast Asia, ignoring the international pressure on Burma to undertake democratic reforms.

The Islamabad conference is likely to endorse the members of Saudi Arabia and possiblely Russia. # #

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