Minutes of the
IPU Asia-Pacific Working Group Meeting
March 20, 2009
Moon Hall, Beijing International Hotel
Participants:
1. Mr. Zha Peixin Vice Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress
Chair
of the IPU Asia-Pacific Group
2. Mr. Donald H. Oliver Senator,
Canada
Preceding
Chair of the IPU Asia-Pacific Group
3. Mr. Jo Gum Chol Chief of Inter-Parliamentary
Relations, Foreign Department, Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, DPRK
4. Mr. Shri P.S. Gadhavi Member of
Parliament, Lok Sabha, India
5. Mr. Abdillah Toha Member
of the IPU Executive Committee
Member
of Parliament, Indonesia
6. Mr. Young Chin Member
of the IPU Executive Committee
Member
of Parliament, Republic of Korea
7. Mr. Ngo Anh Dzung Member of
the IPU Executive Committee
Member
of Parliament, Viet Nam
1. Call to Order
Mr. Zha Peixin, Chair of the
Asia-Pacific Group of the IPU called the meeting to order at 09:00 a.m. at Moon
Hall, Beijing International Hotel.
2. Chair’s remarks
The meeting was opened by chair with a
cordial welcome to all participants.
3. Adoption of the agenda
The agenda of the Working Group meeting
was adopted.
4. Adoption of the minutes of the
previous meeting of the working group
The minutes of the last meeting of the
Working Group (Vancouver, Saturday 20 September 2008) was adopted.
5. Briefings on the 120th IPU
Assembly by members of the Executive Committee
Mr. Abdillah Toha (Indonesia) briefed
participants on the extraordinary session of the Executive Committee held on
January 29 -30. Mr. Ngo Anh Dzung (Vietnam) and Mr. Young Chin (ROK) then
briefed the Group on the agenda of the Executive Committee to be held in April
before the 120th IPU Assembly.
With regard to the venue of the 124th
IPU Assembly in 2011, Mr. Abdillah Toha (Indonesia) said that the Executive
Committee had received a host-bid letter by Panama. Delegates were also
informed the future important events of IPU including two special parliamentary
conferences, one on global financial crisis to be held in Geneva in May and the
other on climate change during the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held
in Copenhagen in December.
6. Draft Agenda of the Asia-Pacific
Group meeting during the 120th IPU Assembly
The draft agenda of APG was endorsed by
the Group.
The Chair informed the Group of the
vacancies for the Asia-Pacific Group to be filled during the the 120th IPU
Assembly and 184th session of the Governing Council.
The Group noted that India will comment
on the budgetary issue of IPU at the APG meeting in Addis Ababa. And Indonesia
will prepare a written report on the work of the IPU Advisory Committee on UN
Affairs.
With regard to the appointment of a new
secretary-general of IPU, the Group hoped at least one candidate could come
from the Asia-Pacific Region.
7. Discussions on how to
improve the work of APG
The Group discussed the proposal by Mr.
Roger Rice(Australia) on the reform of the APG. Consensus was reached that
current practice of annual rotation of chair together with its secretariat was
convenient and efficient while a working group consisting of succeeding and
preceding 2 chairs ensured its continuity. The Chair was entrusted to convey
the Group’s comments to Mr. Roger Rice.
With regard to the organization of the
Parliamentary Conference on the Global Financial Crisis to be held on May 7-8
in Geneva, Mr. Oliver (Canada) proposed that more resource persons should be
invited from the Asia-Pacific Group in consideration of the important role and
influence of the region in world economic setup. The Group agreed to convey the
proposal to IPU secretariat.
The Group discussed the composition of
the preparatory committee of the Third Conference of Speakers of Parliaments.
Mr. Zha Peixin (China) informed the group that China would like to participate
in the preparation process for the Third Conference of Speakers of Parliaments.
Other delegates also showed their interest. The Group asked the executive
committee members to get more information and ensure the representation of APG
members.
The Group was also briefed on the
possibility of the re-affiliation of the United States to the IPU.
8. Other matters
A draft proposal of IPU Committee on
Peace and Korean Reunification was tabled by Canada and ROK. And a statement by
the Inter-Parliamentary Group of DPRK was distributed. Obviously there was
serious disagreement on this matter.
The Group decided not to discuss this
issue further and entrusted the Chair to inform the IPU Secretary General about
this matter.