— Four-member Senate delegation in Cambodia to attend APA’s executive council meeting
PHNOM PENH: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has called for unity of Asian parliaments to counter the challenges and to show unity in diversity and evolve a joint strategy for prosperity of the Asian region.
He was talking to Cambodian National Assembly President Heng Samrin during a meeting. Rabbani is leading a four-member delegation to the 1st executive council meeting of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) being held from here in Phnom Penh. Heng Samrin appreciated the high attendance of Pakistan’s delegation to the APA meetings during the last two years.
The delegation comprises senators Mushahid Hussain, Shibli Faraz and Senate Secretary Amjed Pervez Malik. The Senate chairman thanked the host for warm hospitality and reception extended to the Pakistan delegation, and commended the excellent guidelines and organisation set out by Cambodia in its presidency of the APA for the last two years.
Rabbani applauded that the APA, under the able guidance of President Heng Samrin, carried out excellent work in Bhutan, UAE and Islamabad. He was hopeful to benefit from Cambodia as member of the APA for guidance.
On the bilateral side, he expressed the hope for continued cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries. The MoU recently signed between the two parliaments is a significant step forward. He said that the friendship between our two parliaments is based on the common vision of our two people.
The chairman renewed his invitation to President Heng Samrin of Cambodia to lead a parliamentary delegation to visit Pakistan in the near future. On the sidelines of the 1st executive council meeting, Senator Shibli Faraz, chairman of the Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile, held a bilateral meeting with Russian delegation leader Mikhail V Emeliyanov, first chairman of the Committee for Economic Policy in Russian Duma.
Emeliyanov remarked that both Pakistan and Russia had strong potentials in commerce and trade and it was imperative for the parliamentary role to promote and expand the commerce and trade between the two countries. It was a pleasure to coordinate with you for the role of our two parliaments in the promotion of trade and commerce, he said.
He suggested enhanced exchange of visits of the commerce delegation and economic committees between the two countries. He added that Russian companies could equally benefit from the Pakistani companies. There is huge scope for cooperation in industrial, agriculture, oil and gas sectors, he said.
Senator Faraz acknowledged the importance of the parliamentary standing committees in the promotion of trade and commerce. He remarked that it was a good idea to promote trade between our two countries and would encourage the exchange of commerce delegation. Trade had the potential to bring the two countries further closer. He also suggested the exchange of visits of the parliamentary standing committees to promote trade and economics.