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The 13th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) will discuss international and regional issues, including tsunami, security and trade, an executive committee meeting said in Hanoi Sunday.
The executive committee meeting approved the 13th APPF's agenda, including a special session on January 11, at which Indonesia will inform participants about the outcomes of the Special ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders' Meeting on Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami it hosted on January 6, and they will conduct further discussions on the issue.
"Vietnam and Japan initiated the organization of a special meeting on issues regarding earthquakes and tsunamis. All of the delegates here have strongly supported the idea," Nguyen Van An, chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly and of the executive committee meeting, said at the meeting.
The delegates also approved other main items of the agenda, including political and security issues, economic and trade issues, Asia-Pacific cooperation in addressing regional issues of general interest, and future work of the APPF. Specific issues will include international terrorism, the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East peace process, globalization and cooperation to promote a new round of the World Trade Organization negotiations, transnational crimes and the risk of the reemergence of bird flu.
The delegates also agreed that Indonesia will host the 14th APPF in January 2005, and will be in charge of getting the forum's members informed about inviting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to attend the event.
The executive committee meeting was attended by representatives from nine countries, namely Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Vietnam.
The 13th APPF will be held in Vietnam's northern Ha Long City from January 10 to 13 with the participation of 23 nations. The 12th APPF took place in China.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2005)
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