Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said at the closing ceremony that the creation of the Asian Bond Fund and the Asian Bond Market represents the new architecture of the world of differences.

"It is a powerful instrument that will enable surplus capital from one Asian country to create wealth in another," he said, adding it would greatly contribute not only to ensuring the full recovery of Asian economies but also to promoting the adoption of best practices in Asia's capital market development.

Thaksin was pleased to see that the 18 ACD members expressed their willingness to get together in consolidating their strength.

"The success of the ACD is only the beginning of our long road to bridge the missing link and to build unity among Asian countries. Our aim is to make the continent of Asia a much better place to live in for our respective people," the prime minister said.

Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai said at the closing ceremony, "We committed ourselves to building up the dual dimensions of the ACD for strengthening Asia-wide cooperation, namely dialogue and projects."

So far, 14 ACD members have volunteered to take the lead in launching 17 region-wide cooperation projects, including agricultural cooperation project by China, environmental project by Japan, establishment of ACD biotechnology consortium by India, small and medium sized enterprises cooperation by Singapore and tourism by Thailand.

The foreign minister also announced the list of ACD's four new members, which brought the number of ACD members to 22. They are Kazakhstan, Oman, Sri Lanka and Kuwait.

The Chiang Mai Declaration "will act as a catalyst to spur the development of a solid, efficient and sustainable Asian bond market for the betterment of Asia and its financial system," said Surakiat.

The Asia Bond Fund (ABF), launched earlier this month by the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) Group, will have an initial size of about US$1 billion and will be invested in a basket of US dollar denominated bonds issued by major Asian economies.

Participants of the meeting welcomed to the active role of ACD in building a sound and stable financial system, which is in the interest of countries and peoples of the Asian region.

In the Chiang Mai declaration, the ministers of ACD recognized the historic significance of Asia Cooperation Dialogue inaugurated in Cha-Am, Thailand in June 2002 and the commitment of the 18 member countries to enhance Asia-wide cooperation and mutual prosperity through the combined strengths and diversities.

The participants of the meeting have agreed to make efforts to develop a strong and resilient financial system in order to prevent future economic and financial crises and to take concerted steps needed to reduce the region's vulnerability to fluctuations in international movements.

The ministers also encouraged wide variety of issuers to issue bond denominated in Asian currencies to contribute to the stability of the financial markets.

It was announced at the closing cession that China will host the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue next year.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2003)