The four-day 17th annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) opened in Vientiane on Monday, with the main discussion topics from strengthening political security to promoting economic and trade cooperation and strengthening parliamentary exchanges.
Parliamentarians from 19 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific took part in the event. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Secretary Anders B. Johnsson attended the forum.
Zhou Tienong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, said at the opening session that the meeting would enhance cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and promote economic cooperation among regional countries.
At the opening ceremony, Lao National Assembly President Samdech Heng Samrin raised concerns about such difficulties and challenges that regional countries are facing as financial crisis, climate change, natural disasters, food crisis and energy crisis.
Heng Samrin called on Asian-Pacific countries to strengthen regional trade and economic cooperation to achieve lasting development in the region, contributing to the development of the world.
The APPF was founded by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in January 1993 in Tokyo, Japan.
The APPF is a loosely-structured and non-exclusive forum of national parliamentarians who participate either as delegates of their parliaments or in their personal capacities.
The APPF seeks to provide opportunities for national parliamentarians of the Asia Pacific region to identify and discuss matters of common concern and interest and to highlight them in a global context.
The 16th annual conference of the APPF was held in Auckland, New Zealand from Jan. 20 to Jan. 24, 2008.
Source: Xinhua
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