Over 350 delegates from 21 nations are all set to attend the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) in Hanoi this week.

A total of 355 officials from the 21 member countries have confirmed their participation in the APPF-26, which is scheduled to take place from January 18 to 21 in the Vietnamese capital.

This is a special event, opening a new year of the Southeast Asian’s diplomatic activities, Nguyen Van Giau, chairman of the National Assembly (NA)'s Committee for External Relations, remarked during a press conference on Wednesday.

The APPF-26 will be held under the theme of “parliamentary partnership for peace, innovation and sustainable development,” Giau continued.

The first working day of the forum consisted of the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians, which focused on promoting gender equality for sustainable development and shared prosperity.

The event will also feature four plenary sessions on the topics of politics, security, economy and trade, regional cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and the future of the APPF. 

Thirty-four bilateral meetings are scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the APPF-26. 

Established in Tokyo, Japan, in 1993, the APPF now consists of 27 member nations, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the U.S., and Vietnam among others.

The forum is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians to discuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of the region and the interests and experience of its diverse members. 

This is the second time Vietnam has hosted the APPF’s annual meeting after the 13th version in the northern province of Quang Ninh in January 2005.

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