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Minutes of the
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. The Meeting was adjourned at 12:15.
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