3 August 2000

PRESS RELEASE

The Socialist International Asia Pacific Committee will meet in Wellington, New Zealand on 7-8th August 2000, hosted by the New Zealand Labour Party

The meeting will gather delegates and representatives from social democratic, socialist and labour parties of the Asia-Pacific region and guests to address priorities for social democracy in the region, for ways of advancing and strengthening democratic institutions, and responding to crises of democracy, in particular theSouth Pacific cases. There will also be reports on national situations and on other developments in the region.

Participants at the meeting will include, among others, Luis Ayala, Secretary General of the Socialist International; Takako Doi, Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Japan; Lim Kit Siang, Leader of the Democratic Action Party of Malaysia; Norberto Gonzales, Chair of the Philippine Democratic Socialist Party, Mahendra Chaudhry of the Fiji Labour Party with Party President, Jokapeci Koroi ; Sue West, Vice President of the Senate and International Secretary of the Australian Labour Party; Jose Ramos Horta from East Timor; State Minister of Foreign affairs of Bangladesh, Abdul Hasan Chowdhury from the Awami league; Yos Son, Chair of the International Relations Department of the Cambodian People’s Party; and Kim Sang-Woo, from President Kim Dae Jung’s Millennium Democratic Party in South Korea. Delegates of other parties in the region will represent recently-elected Prime Minister Nambariin Enkhbayar’s ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party; the Nepali Congress Party, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Janata Dal Secular from India. Ken Douglas, President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions – Asian and Pacific Regional Organisations, will also attend.

From other regions there will also be delegates from the European Parliament, the Italian Democrats of the Left, the French Socialist Party and the Swedish Social Democratic Party.

The meeting will be held at the Novotel, 345 The Terrace, WELLINGTON and will open at 15.00 hours (or 15.30 time to be confirmed) on Monday, 7th August and will conclude at 17.00hrs on Tuesday 8 August, immediately followed by a press conference.

Members of the press are cordially invited to follow the opening of the meeting on Monday 7 at 15.00hrs, and should register their interest to cover the event with the Socialist International Secretariat at the venue of the meeting or on fax (44 20 76 27 44 48/ 74 9812 93 or at e-mail:secretariat@socialistinternational.org.

Maritime House, Old Town, Clapham. London SW4 DJW, United Kingdom
Telephone (44 20) 7627 4449 : Telefax (44 20) 7720 4448 /7498 1293; E-mail: secretariat@socialistinternational.org

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