Message from the Secretary-General,
His Excellency Dr. M. H. Nejad-Hosseinian

Welcome to the website of the Secretariat of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA). The Asian Parliamentary Assembly is home to great aspirations of elected representatives of Asian peoples, and to a great collective vision, that is Asian integration. As the APA Secretary-General, I am honored to work for such a great cause, and to facilitate realization of such esteemed goal. My colleagues and I plan to have the most outreaching approach to each and every Asian entity in order to better fulfill responsibilities entrusted to us by the APA Plenary, and therefore, humbly invite you to take part in our efforts.

The APA was born out of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) in November, 2006, in Tehran. The establishment of the AAPP goes back to 1999 when a group of Asian parliamentarians decided to join forces toward promoting peace and human rights in Asia. In 2006, while broadening areas of cooperation, and emphasizing their desire for taking serious steps toward integration, member parliaments set in a process that would eventually lead us to an Asian common legislative mechanism. Unlike AAPP, members of the APA Plenary must be elected by members of member parliaments. This gives the APA an unprecedented and unique status in Asia.

The APA members have requested the President, in the final declaration of the First Session of the APA Plenary, to consult with member parliaments and governments about several issues, including:

1- Pact of Friendship in Asia.

2- Integrated Energy Market in Asia.

3- Asian Monetary Fund. (Paragraph 30 of Tehran Declaration)

4- Globalization; Opportunities and Challenges for Asia

5- Reducing Poverty in Asia, UN MDG.

6- Cultural Diversity, the Strength of Asia.

7- Combating Corruption, and promoting Good Governance.

Upon my appointment, I have formed 7 working groups to study the foregoing issues, and to prepare a framework for consultation with the member states. Four more working groups have been established for:

8- Drafting the APA Rules of Procedures. (As required under Article 15 of the Charter)

9- Preparing the agenda and organization of the Joint Conference of the APA parliamentarians and Foreign Ministers of the member states.

10- Developing possible areas for enacting common legislations.

11- Organizing a public information campaign.

The first round of consultation with the governments of the member states took place in Tehran on July 9-10, 2007 on “establishment and mechanism of an Asian Monetary Fund.” The second round of such consultation is scheduled to take place in Tehran on September 9-11. We are planning to prepare a “Plan of Action,” as requested in the Tehran Declaration, for presenting to the Second Session of the APA Plenary, which will be held in Tehran from 19 to 21 November, 2007.

Asian integration is a noble cause. We should regard Asian rich diversity as a point of strength and engage not only members of parliaments and governments, but also academics, members of civil society, and private sector in this process. I would like to reiterate that we, at the Secretariat, highly appreciate your input, and are looking forward to hearing your ideas and initiatives.