Pakistan hails idea of establishing Asian parliament, APF

29 Nov, 2004

Speaker National Assembly, Chaudhry Amir Hussein has said that Pakistan appreciates the idea of establishing Asian Parliament and Asian Poverty Fund to discuss and solve the regional problems at priority basis. He was talking to Jose de Venecia Jr. Sitting, President of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) and Speaker of Philippines House of Representatives, who called on him here on Sunday.
While talking to Venecia, Speaker National Assembly said that cordial and warm bilateral relations existed between both the parliaments, which needed to be further strengthened on solid footings.
He also hoped for a frequent people-to-people contact, which would further augment the existing relations between two countries.
Chaudhry Amir Hussain opined that both the countries could benefit from the legislation carried out by their respective legislatures for elimination of terror and gender discrimination.
He said Pakistan supported the idea of establishment of Asia Parliament floated by the Philippines in pervious meetings of the AAPP and added that Pakistan would like Philippines to take leading role in this respect since they were the initiators of the proposal.
The establishment of Asian Poverty Fund also came under discussion and both the leaders agreed that the creation of such a fund would play a vital role in Asia's struggle against poverty.
The Speaker and Venecia agreed that Pakistan and Philippines had commonality of views on elimination of terror and establishing peace and security in the region.
They also said that Pak-Philippine's co-operation on terrorism would also be beneficial and complementary to each other's efforts in this field. Jose de Venecia appreciated the arrangements of 5th General Assembly of AAPP. He also congratulated Pakistan on successful transition to democracy in difficult regional and world environment.

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