"This organization is quite influential in Asia," Russian Charge d'Affairs in Pakistan Aleksei Yudintsev told RIA Novosti. "Therefore, Russia's membership in the ACD would promote Russian Federation's commercial and economic contacts with the region's countries".
"In future this organization intends to hold annual summits, rather than Foreign Ministers' meetings, which will further enhance the forum's significance," Mr. Yudintsev added.
According to him, the decision to admit Russia in the ACD was taken unanimously. Saudi Arabia also became an ACD member Wednesday.
The participants of the Fourth ACD Foreign Ministers' session also agreed to join efforts to ensure that an Asian will be elected the new UN Secretary General.
ACD member states adopted two documents - The Islamabad Declaration and The Islamabad Initiative on Economic Cooperation. In these documents the participants called for using globalization to support backward regions and developing countries. They agreed to develop educational and social programs, and support Asian equity markets. The Foreign Ministers of the ACD countries decided to endorse efforts to liberalize trade and tax policies within the region.
The participants also emphasized the need to resolve regional conflicts hindering the development of the whole Asian continent.
The next annual ACD meeting, this time with Russia's full-scale participation, will take place in Qatar.
