Hanoi (VNA) – The 26th Annual Meeting of theAsia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26), themed “Parliamentary partnershipfor peace, innovation and sustainable development”, is to open in Hanoi onJanuary 18 with three key meetings scheduled for the day.

The first working day of the APPF-26 consists of the Meetingof Women Parliamentarians, Meeting of Secretaries and Advisors of thedelegations, and Executive Committee Meeting.

The Meeting of Women Parliamentarians of the APPF was heldfor the first time during APPF-24 in Canada in January 2016, following aninitiative from the Indonesian delegation to the APPF-23.

Being the third edition this year, the APPF Meeting of WomenParliamentarians aims at promoting gender equality for sustainable developmentand shared prosperity.

This year, the Japanese delegation proposed a draftamendment of the New APPF Rules of Procedure to include the Meeting of WomenParliamentarians as a permanent event of future APPF meetings.

The APPF Executive Committee, which is responsible formatters relevant to the management of the event, comprises representatives oftwo countries from each of the APPF´s sub-region. The current ExecutiveCommittee members are Russia and Mongolia (representing Northeast Asia),Indonesia and Laos (Southeast Asia), New Zealand and Papua New Guinea(Oceania), and Chile and Canada (the Americas), along with representatives fromthe current and upcoming host countries.

Lasting until January 21, theAPPF-26 also features four plenary sessions on the topics of politics-security,economics-trade, regional cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and the future of APPF.

Thirty-four bilateral meetings are scheduled to take placeon the sidelines of the meeting.

By January 16, 11 participating APPF members submitted 44draft resolutions, including six from Vietnam. By the end of its course, themeeting is expected to adopt resolutions and issue the Hanoi Declaration.

The APPF was officially formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 1993. Theforum now gathers 27 members, namely Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Chile,Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, theMarshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,Peru, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, theUS, and Vietnam.

The APPF is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians todiscuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of theregion and the interests and experience of its diverse members. The forum’sproceedings address political, security, economic, social and cultural issues,thus furthering regional cooperation and building relations between and amongparliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region.-VNA