The Ministerial Conference on Asian Economic Cooperation adopted the Bangkok Declaration. The declaration called for cooperation in four thematic areas of integrated markets, connectivity, regional financial cooperation and cooperation to address shared vulnerabilities and risks.
A press release from the Royal Bhutan Embassy in Bangkok states the four areas will be further studied and they will involve expert working groups. It goes on to say the findings and recommendations will be submitted for the consideration of the second Ministerial Conference to be held in 2015.
The Bhutanese delegation was led by Ambassador Kesang Wangdi, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to UNESCAP and senior officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Bangkok.
During the four days meeting held in Bangkok in December 17-20, heads of governments, ministers, senior policy makers, experts and other stakeholders discussed and finalized the agenda for deepening and broadening regional economic cooperation and integration in the region.
The Conference also witnessed extensive deliberations on the special needs of weaker economies such as the least developed countries and landlocked developing countries resulting in the unanimous decision to assist such countries with technical assistance and in building their capacities.