
The seminar, the third of its kind, was held by the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion (IPU) in collaboration with the NA of Pakistan both in person and viavideo teleconference.
This year’s event followed the success of the first seminarlaunched by the IPU and the Vietnamese NA in Ho Chi Minh City in May 2017 and thesecond hosted by the Mongolian NA in Ulan Bator in May 2019.
Participants shared experience in realising the SDGs, andstressed the need to strengthen cooperation and awareness and to accelerate parliamentaryactions to translate the SGDs into reality in the region.
The seminar featured four sessions – “Envisioning inclusivedevelopment: “Socio-economic challenges in Asia-Pacific,” “Parliamentary mechanismsand practices to institutionalise the SDGs,” “Women at the centre of thedevelopment agenda,” and “Building resilience to preserve our common future,”

Speaking at the event, the Vietnamese delegation expressedsympathy for Pakistan over its losses in the historic flood and believed thatthe country will soon overcome the aftermaths. They also held that impacts ofclimate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical uncertainties will pose variouschallenges to achieving the SDGs.
Vietnam also shared experience and put forth a number ofrecommendations during the discussions on “Ensuring equitable access tohealthcare” and “Women at the centre of the development agenda.”
The Vietnamese delegation also had meetings with Speaker ofthe Pakistani NA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, IPU President Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of Pakistan’s NA StandingCommittee on Foreign Affairs Mohsin Dawar and Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Farooq Hamid Naek,during which the two sides discussed expanding relations between the twolegislatures. Both sides agreed that there are plenty of room for the ties togrow further in the areas of politics, economy, trade, culture, tourism andothers./.