Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum to boost regional cooperation: host Vietnam

HANOI, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming 26th annual meeting of Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) to be held here will foster cooperation among parliaments, contributing to peace, innovation and sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific region, home to almost 3 billion people, organizers said on Wednesday.

Under the theme of "Parliamentary Partnership for Peace, Innovation and Sustainable Development", delegates will discuss four key matters, namely politics and security, economy and trade, regional development cooperation and APPF's future work from Jan. 18-21, Nguyen Van Giau, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee under Vietnam's National Assembly, the country's top legislature, said at a press conference.

The discussions will provide a parliamentary perspective to efforts in promoting friendship and cooperation, combating terrorism and other trans-boundary crimes, expanding trade, investment, prosperity and sustainable development which revolve around the agenda of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit 2017, and addressing regional cooperation on climate change responses and regional cultural and tourism cooperation.

The Hanoi Declaration is scheduled to be issued to mark the 25th founding anniversary of APPF and chart out the course of development for the forum in the future, said Giau.

The forum is expected to see over 350 foreign delegates, including 20 from China, according to the organizers. Enditem