REPORT OF THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE APPF

 

The Inaugural Meeting of the APPF was held at the Hotel Okura in Tokyo from January 13 to 15, 1993.

1. Fifty nine parliamentarians participated from fifteen nations: Australia, Brunei (observer status), Canada, the Federated States of Micronesia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States of America.
2. The outline of the Meeting’s schedule appears on the Program. Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone, former Prime Minister of Japan, was elected Chairman of the Inaugural Meeting. Following the meeting, a press conference was conducted by the Executive Committee, comprised of the representatives from Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Korea, Thailand(on behalf of the ASEAN) and the United States of America.
3. Principal results of the Inaugural Meeting include:
   
   
   1. Adoption of the Tokyo Declaration, which formally establishes the APPF
   2. The office of the President of the APPF was newly established. The term of office shall be three years, with re-election possible. The Steering Committee was reorganized into the APPF Executive Committee.

• The President will represent the APPF and act as Chairman of the Executive Committee. Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone was elected as the first President.
• The Executive Committee will consist of the current six members of the Steering Committee and the Philippines( as the host country of the next Annual Meeting) until the next Annual Meeting.
• Rules of Procedure regarding the roles of the President and the Executive Committee were adopted:

1. If the President resigns, dies or becomes ineligible to hold office by reason of ceasing to be a parliamentarian, the Executive Committee shall elect an interim President.
2. In the selection of countries to serve on the Executive Committee, due attention shall be paid to balance in regional representation.
3. The host country of the next Annual Meeting may nominate its representative who will serve on the Executive Committee.
4. The duties of the Executive Committee include coordination with the next host country on the Meeting agenda, advising the host country on the Meeting requirements, receiving requests for membership on behalf of the APPF and making recommendations thereon to the Meeting.

   3. It was confirmed that consensus in decision-making, as stated in the Tokyo Declaration and adopted by the Inaugural Meeting, means decision with unanimity.

   4. The second Annual Meeting will take place in the Philippines, the second week of January, 1994. The third Annual Meeting will be held in Mexico. The Canadian delegation also offered to host the Meeting in the future.

   5. Russia, Mongolia, Peru and Taiwan have expressed their desire to join the APPF. The Meeting approved membership for Russia, Peru and Mongolia. The APPF will continue to discuss the issue of Taiwan participation.

• After active discussion on the Cambodian peace issue and alleged nuclear development in North Korea, participants at the Meeting adopted the Joint Communique on ¨Cambodia. The issue of North Korea will be discussed further at the next Meeting.