First Meeting of APA's Executive Council in 2017 Held in Cambodia
APA News Desk
4 October 2017
The first meeting of Executive Council of Asian Parliamentary Assembly in 2017 was held on 2-3 October 2017 in Phnom Penh, the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Delegations from APA member parliaments including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, and Vietnam participated in this meeting.
At the Inaugural ceremony, Hon. Dr. Nguon Nhel, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Executive Council expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Parliament of Iran for supporting the APA Secretariat in its smooth and successful performance. He also referred to the prolific work of the host parliament, Cambodia, ever since the Eighth Plenary Meeting of APA in 2015. He called upon APA member parliaments attending the Executive Council meeting to consider and adopt 24 draft resolutions before them.
APA's Secretary-General, H.E. Dr. Mohammad Reza Majidi, presented his opening statement at the inaugural ceremony and on behalf of APA members and the Secretariat, congratulated the President of Cambodian Parliament as well as APA, Hon. Heng Samrin, for his valuable leadership of APA activities during the past two years. He also indicated that the results of the Council's work will soon be forwarded to the 10th APA Plenary for final approval.
Hon. Heng Samrin also delivered an opening address at the inaugural ceremony. He pointed out that APA has been able to contribute a lot to seeking solutions for various issues facing the international community, particularly Asian countries. He also indicated that APA has been the voice of Asian people and has reflected it in the world community. He further called on APA member parliaments to strengthen bilateral as well as multilateral cooperation among them and incorporate their decisions in relevant parliamentary legislations.
The Agenda and the Program of Work of the Executive Council were adopted unanimously by member parliaments. H.E. Mr. A. Chepa, Head of the parliamentary delegation of Russian Federation, and H.E. Mr. Z. Sanduqa, Head of the parliamentary delegation of Palestine, were elected as Vice-Chairperson and Rapporteur of the meeting by acclamation respectively.
The Chairman made an introductory statement and then, APA Secretary-General presented his report on APA activities in 2017. The Deputy Secretary-General informed the attending delegations about receiving a resolution sponsored by Turkey and Iran on the situation of Myanmar as well as several amendments by delegations of Russia and India on different resolutions.
Finally, the following draft resolutions of each APA Standing Committee were considered by the Executive Council and recommended to the upcoming Tenth APA Plenary for final approval:
A. APA Standing Committee on Political Affairs:
• Draft Resolution on “Towards an Asian Parliament“
• Draft Resolution on “Good Governance“
• Draft Resolution on the “Rule of Law and Judicial Empowerment”
• Draft Resolution on “Good Parliamentary Practices”
• Draft Resolution on “Building Prosperity in Asia Through Friendship and Cooperation”
• Draft Resolution on “Asian Parliaments and Governments For Prosperity in Asia”
• Draft Resolution on “Asian Parliaments' Unwavering Support For the Palestinian People”
B. APA Standing Committee on Economic and Sustainable Development Affairs:
• Draft Resolution on “Asian Integrated Energy Market”
• Draft Resolution on “Environment Issues”
• Draft Resolution on “Financial Affairs: Ensuring Efforts for Economic Growth”
• Draft Resolution on “Poverty Eradication“
• Draft Resolution on the “Role of APA Parliaments in the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals”
• Draft Resolution on “Water and Sanitation in Asia For All”
C. APA Standing Committee on Staff and Financial Regulations:
• Draft Resolution on “Planning APA Budget”
D. APA Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs:
• Draft Resolution on “Measures to Promote Cultural Diversity and Protect Cultural Heritage in Asia”
• Draft Resolution on “Asian Integration through Information and Communication Technology”
• Draft Resolution on “Collaboration on Health Equity in Asia”
• Draft Resolution on “Protection and Promotion of Rights of Migrant Workers in Asia”
• Draft Resolution on “Asian Parliamentarians Against Corruption”
• Draft Resolution on “APA Women Parliamentarians”
• Draft Resolution on “Promoting Inter-Faith Dialogue and Harmony Among World Religions”
• Draft Resolution on “Legal and Legislative Cooperation in Combating the Smuggling of Cultural Items in Asia”
• Draft Resolution on “Effective Cooperation in Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking in Asia”
• Draft Resolution on “Humanitarian Aid to Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Myanmar on the Verge of Humanitarian Catastrophe”.
In addressing the agenda item on the nomination of APA Vice Presidents for 2018, the following APA member parliaments volunteered and received the confirmation of the Executive Council:
1. The Senate of Pakistan for the Standing Committee on Political Affairs;
2. The House of Representative of Cypress for the Standing Committee on Economic and Sustainable Development Affairs; and
3. The Parliament of Iraq for the Standing Committee on Staff and Financial Regulations.
With respect to the agenda item “any other matters”:
1. The delegation of Bahrain proposed that the subject of "Maintaining National Unity and Territorial Integrity of Asian Countries" be considered in future meetings.
2. The delegation of Iran offered to host a meeting of the research centers of APA member parliaments.
3. APA Deputy Secretary-General, H.E. Dr. Khorram, mentioned that "APA Secretariat, in each official meeting, in close cooperation with the host parliament, does its utmost effort to attract the maximum participation of Member Parliaments. Realization of this task requires sincere cooperation of the host parliament’s authorities as well as assistance of the APA President or Vice Presidents. In recent years, APA Secretariat has received several correspondences from APA Member Parliaments concerning visa issuance for participation in the APA meetings. Therefore, in order to facilitate maximum participation in APA meetings, cooperation by all Member Parliaments on issuing visa is called for."
The Chairman supported and adopted the above proposals.
APA Energy Advisory Group also met on the sideline of this meeting. Many interested delegations attended this Advisory Group meeting and shared their views on the subject matter with others. The chairman of the group, after hearing, debating and collecting views and observations of all participants, concluded that more substantive interaction is needed on the part of APA which will in turn call for more time to be devoted to this topic. It was also pointed out that few delegations such as Kuwait and Iran are ready to host the next Advisory Group meeting which will be coordinated through APA secretariat. Turkey proposed that the Advisory Group be promoted to Standing Committee level, if approved by APA Plenary.
The first Executive Council meeting concluded its work on 3 October 2017 after fully addressing all agenda items and adopting its decisions.
See the full report of the meeting by clicking here.
See the photos of the meeting by clicking here.
- 11 October 2017
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