Iran calls for Asian 'convergence'
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Meanwhile, addressing the ACD meeting, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also called for unity and convergence among the member states.
![Delegates attend the 9th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Tehran, capital of Iran, Nov. 8, 2010. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for convergence of the Asian countries at the ACD ministerial meeting which kicked off in Tehran on Monday. [Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20101109/000cf1bdd03f0e431fcb04.jpg "Delegates attend the 9th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Tehran, capital of Iran, Nov. 8, 2010. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for convergence of the Asian countries at the ACD ministerial meeting which kicked off in Tehran on Monday. [Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua]") |
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Delegates attend the 9th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Tehran, capital of Iran, Nov. 8, 2010. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for convergence of the Asian countries at the ACD ministerial meeting which kicked off in Tehran on Monday. [Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua] |
Mottaki said the ACD with 31 member states is the biggest block in the Asian continent.
Over the past two days, a troika session, including the previous, current and future heads of ACD, has been held in presence of all the participant states, discussing frames for dialogue and cooperation of the Asian nations, he added.
Mottaki called on Asian states to take the meeting as an opportunity to further strengthen trade mechanisms and economic cooperation on the continent through the ACD, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
"The meeting can be used to push ahead convergence in Asia and move to reinvigorate Asian bonds through coherent and goal- oriented planning in a bid to integrate the (Asian states') capabilities and capacities to turn the Asian continent into a single and influential actor in regional and international equations," Mottaki was quoted as saying.
"The Islamic Republic, which took the presidency of the ACD in September 2010, announces its readiness to strengthen the ACD, restructure it and expand cooperation among the members," said Mottaki.
"Iran will spare no effort to ... prepare the facilities needed for the rapid and successful implementation of the plans (of ACD), " he added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Saturday that the ACD meeting in Tehran is a good opportunity for the representatives of member countries to express their views and exchange ideas on current regional issues.
The ACD is a body created in 2002 to promote Asian cooperation at a continental level and to help integrate separate regional cooperation organizations such as ASEAN, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
