The Asian Parliamentary Assembly in the morning of 26 September 2016, opened its Standing Committee Meeting on Staff and Financial Regulatons at Pokeethra Phnom Penh Hotel. The meeting was chaired by the head of the parliamentary delegation of Aghanistan, with H.E. Mr. Nhem Thavy, Member of Parliament of Cambodia, assuming the role of the deputy-chair. The meeting also put the draft resolution on budget and finance on table to support the ongoing process of the APA in 2017.

According to the draft resolution on APA Budget and Finance, the Asian Parliamentary Assembly needs the budget of 1.5 million US dollars for the year 2017. Member parliaments are required to make financial contributions to the Asian Parliamentary Assembly. The meeting had a lively discussion this morning, with delegates sharing views on this draft resolution, requesting for transparency and solidarity in the Asian Parliamentary family. The meeting also highly evaluated, and expressed its acclamation to the parliament of the Kingdom of Cambodia for hosting the crucial event.

It should be emphasized that the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) was born in 2006, after it was tranformed from the Association of Asian Parliamentsfor Peace (AAPP), which was established in 1999 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  The APA Secretariat is now based in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

H.E. Mr. Nhem Thavy, Member of Parliament from Cambodia and Vice-Chair of the Meeting, said the APA has raised the issue of finacial contributions to follow the practice and model of the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.However, the draft resolution of the APA has not been approved. The resolution will be tabled during the 9th APA Plenary Session, which is set to take place in the late 2016 in Cambodia’s historical Siem Reap province, where the famed Angkor Wat issituated.

Parliamentary delegates from 21 countries in Asia are gathering in the Kingdom of Cambodia for a two-day meetings of the Standing Committee on Staff and Financial Regualtions and the 1st Executive Council Meeting from 26-27 September 2016.

Photos and article by courtesy of the Information Department