Regional politics, security and trade topped the agenda of the 13th Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF 13), which also discussed environmental protection and sustainable development as well as cultural and social issues.
The annual regional meeting, held on Jan. 10-13 in Ha Long city of Vietnam’s northeastern Quang Ninh province, was participated by 280 delegates from 23 parliaments.
Addressing the opening session, Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Van An said a major target of the meeting was to create opportunities for regional legislators to build cooperation within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Security and cooperation to overcome the earthquake disaster
At the first plenary session, legislators from across the region discussed matters of regional and global political security, focusing on international terrorism, the Korean peninsula nuclear issue, the Middle East peace process, and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
All solutions to global issues must conform to the fundamental principles of international law, comply with the UN Charter, aim to ensure peace and security in the region and the world and take into account the interests and specific conditions of countries concerned, said Vietnamese NA Vice Chairman Truong Quang Duoc.
Mr. Duoc said Vietnam had signed eight out of 12 international anti-terror conventions and was considering joining the rest.
Vietnam also worked closely with countries and international organizations to implement international instruments on counter-terrorism to which it is a party as well as United Nations (UN) resolutions on this matter, he said.
Many deputies shared their concern about the threat of terrorism to the global security and called for the promotion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Also at this session, participants adopted a seven-point Resolution on Cooperation to Overcome the Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster, which calls upon all countries to continue search for victims, provide relief and support the UN’s efforts.
The resolution also called on the regional governments to promote cooperation in addressing natural disasters, including the development and implementation of risk-reduction strategies.
Greater cooperation toward trade liberalization
Economics and trade became the topic of the second plenary session of APPF 13.
Participants agreed to strengthen cooperation between countries on the principles of mutual benefits, equity and mutual understanding and that further economic reform in each country is a necessary condition to maintain sustainable global as well as regional economic growth.
Discussions focused on trade liberalization, especially in agriculture in preparation for successful Doha negotiation round in December this year in Hong Kong. Participants agreed that special importance should be attached to such development issues of concern of developing and underdeveloped countries as special treatment and differences, debts and implementation of WTO’s current agreements.
The forum also supported the trend of multilateral and bilateral economic cooperation, emphasizing development factors and equity as basic conditions for regional agreements.
Environmental protection and cultural exchange
The third plenary session of the conference heard 50 speeches from participating delegations on wide-ranging issues of common concern.
The Vietnamese delegation told the meeting that it is necessary to boost cultural cooperation and exchange between civilizations and connect this with the preservation of national identity and diversity.
Vietnam holds that preserving cultural diversity will contribute not only to national development but also to the establishment of peace in the world.
Regarding environmental protection, participants suggested solutions to environmental protection and sustainable development for application at the national, regional and global levels, including the increase of official development assistance to developing countries.
There should also be an overall strategy and concrete actions for environmental protection and sustainable development, they agreed.
Joint communiqué and resolutions
The forum ended on Jan. 13 with the issuance of a joint communiqué and adoption of 21 resolutions, apart from the resolution to overcome the earthquake and tsunami disaster.
The 27-point communiqué touched upon issues of common concern and discussion at the forum, such as the situation in Iraq, the Middle East and Afghanistan, the role of WTO and the progress made in negotiations for WTO accession for Vietnam and Russia, among others.