The seminar, the third of its kind, was held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in collaboration with the NA of Pakistan both in person and via video teleconference.
This year’s event followed the success of the first seminar launched by the IPU and the Vietnamese NA in Ho Chi Minh City in May 2017 and the second hosted by the Mongolian NA in Ulan Bator in May 2019.
Participants shared experience in realising the SDGs, and stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and awareness and to accelerate parliamentary actions to translate the SGDs into reality in the region.
The seminar featured four sessions – “Envisioning inclusive development: “Socio-economic challenges in Asia-Pacific,” “Parliamentary mechanisms and practices to institutionalise the SDGs,” “Women at the centre of the development agenda,” and “Building resilience to preserve our common future,”
There were also three breakout sessions tackling inequalities – “Ending hunger and malnutrition,” “Promoting quality education and decent work for youth” and “Ensuring equitable access to healthcare.”
Speaking at the event, the Vietnamese delegation expressed sympathy for Pakistan over its losses in the historic flood and believed that the country will soon overcome the aftermaths. They also held that impacts of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical uncertainties will pose various challenges to achieving the SDGs.
Vietnam also shared experience and put forth a number of recommendations during the discussions on “Ensuring equitable access to healthcare” and “Women at the centre of the development agenda.”
The Vietnamese delegation also had meetings with Speaker of the Pakistani NA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, IPU President Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of Pakistan’s NA Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Mohsin Dawar and Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Farooq Hamid Naek, during which the two sides discussed expanding relations between the two legislatures. Both sides agreed that there are plenty of room for the ties to grow further in the areas of politics, economy, trade, culture, tourism and others.
