The plenary session of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum.

The discussions focused on the role of parliamentary diplomacy in addressing challenges to peace, security, and prosperity around the world, and on combating international terrorism and trans-border crime.

Chen Zhu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People's Congress, said: “We need to work together to bridge differences, and share issues of concern. It is essential to respect and follow the UN’s shared principles. We are now facing many issues which cannot be resolved quickly, including terrorism and trans-border crime. We need to support one another to create a safe environment”.    

Vice Chairman of Indonesia’s House of Representatives Fahri Hamzah and  Vice Chairman of Lao’s National Assembly Sengnouane Sayalat said parliamentary diplomacy is essential to deal with regional and national issues. This will necessitate a dialogue mechanism and information sharing.

Vice Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Do Ba Ty said promoting peace, security and development is the urgent responsibility of all APPF members: “ “The parliaments need to legalize international commitments and strengthen enforcement of the commitments and obligations under international laws and conventions. Legal documents which directly relate to improving understanding and cooperation between nations need to be amended and supplemented on the basis of equality and respect for one another’s rights and interests in line with international law and the UN Charter. Vietnam has drafted resolution on promoting parliamentary diplomacy for peace, security and prosperity in the region and the world, calling for implementation of global commitments to tackle common challenges and realize key goals set at APEC 2017.”