Press Release

14 December 2007

Auckland to host Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum

The 16th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) will be held in Auckland from 20-24 January 2008.

The Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, Hon Margaret Wilson, said between 300 and 400 attendees are expected at the Auckland meeting. Official delegations will include parliamentarians led by the Speaker or equivalent from up to 27 APPF member countries.

New Zealand’s delegation of MPs will be led by Tim Barnett, with Lindsay Tisch as deputy.

APPF is a non-binding discussion forum of regional parliamentarians. Founded in 1993 by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, the APPF complements other regional cooperation groupings such as APEC.

Delegates at the Moscow meeting last year agreed that New Zealand would host the 2008 meeting, and Ms Wilson was elected APPF President from 1 May 2007 to 30 April 2008.

The Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Sergey Mironov, who will be in New Zealand as a guest of government, will be among those attending the Auckland meeting.

‘The APPF Annual Meeting is a valuable forum for knowledge-sharing by emerging leaders, exposing them to issues of global and regional concern,’ Ms Wilson said.

‘Attendees build personal connections and share best-practice experience of parliamentary democracy, learning from each other and helping parliaments serve their citizens better.

‘New Zealand’s first-ever hosting of this event allows us to showcase New Zealand’s parliamentary system and focus attention on issues of concern in our region,’ Ms Wilson said.

The plenary sessions will be open to media. Delegates will debate draft resolutions on a diverse range of topics including cluster munitions, the Korean peninsula, the Middle East peace process, the relationship between civilisations, climate change and energy security.

‘We look forward to hosting the event,’ Ms Wilson said.

Ends

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