ISLAMABAD - Around 100 Member Parliaments from 26 Asian, African and European countries will sit together in Gwadar from October 29-31 to look into ways and means to make Asian region more inclusive and development oriented at meeting of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA).
The Senate of Pakistan, is hosting Meetings of APA Standing Committee on Political Affairs & Special Committee for Creation of Asian Parliament at Gwadar – a future hub of Asian trade. The purpose of holding of this international conference is to highlight its economic importance as well as giving a message to world that Pakistan is a peaceful country with enormous investment opportunities. During the three-day event, the member countries of the APA would deliberate on future prospects for economic cooperation.
The inaugural ceremony would be held on October 29 to be followed by meetings of Special Committee on Creation of Asian Parliament at a local hotel in Gwadar. The meetings will lead to discussion on resolutions which will consequently be brought before the Assembly.
The resolutions to be discussed by the APA Committee on Political Affairs relate to rule of law and judicial empowerment in Asian region, building prosperity in Asia through friendship and cooperation, bringing Asian parliaments and governments together for prosperity in Asia and promoting good parliamentary practices.
The Senate will put before the Assembly the proposal of “development through democracy” suggesting this system of governance as the most important tool for peace, prosperity and development. In his comments, Chairman Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani has expressed satisfaction over arrangements made for this Conference, and said that it was collective responsibility of all concerned to make it a success as it will not only help to project soft image of Pakistan but will highlight real potential of Gawadar as a port city.
Sanjrani said the development of Gwadar is not only in the best interests of Pakistan but the whole of Asia. He said that holding meeting of the APA committee in Gwadar will help provide on ground awareness to participants and delegates from different regions.
He said that operationalisation of Gwadar port and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects would provide jobs to locals in Pakistan and uplift quality of life of common citizens.
It merits mentioned here that the APA traces its history back to establishment of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) in September 1999 in Dhaka (Bangladesh), when a group of Asian parliamentarians decided to join forces towards promoting peace and human rights in Asia.
In 2006, the AAPP was converted into Asian Parliamentary Assembly in Tehran (Iran). The APA comprises, in 2007, of 42 Member Parliaments and 16 observers. Each Member Parliament has a specific number of seats in the Assembly based on size of their population. The number of total seats, and therefore, number of votes, is currently 206.