At the press conference (Source: VNA)Hanoi VNA) – More than 350 delegates from member nations have registered to attend the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26), heard a press conference in Hanoi on January 17.
Nguyen Van Giau, Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Committee for External Relations, said at the press conference that Vietnam is hosting the APPF-26 to build on the success of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2017 in Da Nang via the parliamentary channel.
Vietnam is now ready for the meeting, said Giau, who is also deputy head of the APPF-26 organising committee.
The APPF-26 will be held in Hanoi from January 18-21 under the theme of “Parliamentary partnership for peace, innovation and sustainable development”.
The annual meeting consists of a meeting of women parliamentarians, which will focus on promoting gender equality for sustainable development and shared prosperity. It also features four plenary sessions on the topics of politics-security, economy-trade, regional cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and the future of APPF.
Thirty-four bilateral meetings are scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the APPF-26.
By January 16, 11 participating APPF members submitted 44 draft resolutions, including six from Vietnam. By the end of its course, the meeting is expected to adopt resolutions and issue the Hanoi Declaration.
The APPF was officially formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 1993. The forum now gathers 27 members, namely Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.
The mechanism aims to directly assist the APEC, contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
The APPF is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians to discuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of the region and the interests and experience of its diverse members. The forum’s proceedings address political, security, economic, social and cultural issues, thus furthering regional cooperation and building relations between and among parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region.-VNA
