The 13th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) will
discuss international and regional issues, including tsunami, security and
trade, an executive committee meeting said here on Sunday.
The executive committee meeting approved the 13th APPF's agenda, including a
special session on Jan. 11, at which Indonesia will inform participants about
the outcomes of the Special ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
leaders' Meeting on Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami it hosted on Jan. 6, and
they will conduct further discussions on the issue.
"Vietnam and Japan initiated the organization of a special meeting on issues
regarding earthquakes and tsunamis. All of the delegates here have strongly
supported the idea," Nguyen Van An, chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly
and chairman of the executive committee meeting, said at the meeting.
The delegates also approved other main items of the agenda, including
political and security issues, economic and trade issues, Asia-Pacific
cooperation in addressing regional issues of general interest, and future work
of the APPF. Specific issues will include international terrorism, the Korean
Peninsula, the Middle East peace process, globalization and cooperation to
promote a new round of the World Trade Organization negotiations, transnational
crimes and the risk of the reemergence of bird flu.
The delegates also agreed that Indonesia will host the 14th APPF in January
2005, and will be in charge of getting the forum's members informed about
inviting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to attend the event.
The executive committee meeting was attended by representatives from nine
countries, namely Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New
Zealand and Vietnam.
The 13th APPF will be held in Vietnam's northern Ha Long city on Jan. 10-13
with the participation of 23 nations. The 12th APPF took place in China.