Mission to: G20 Seoul, Speakers‟ Consultation 2o11
Venu: Seoul, Republic of Korea
Date: 18-20May2011
Ethiopian Delegation: Honorable: Kassa Tekleberhan, Speaker of the House of FederationMr.Habtamu Nini , Secretery General of The House of FederationMis:HaymanotYeneneh,Protocolofficer.
I. Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the G20 Seoul Speakers‟ Consultation 2011 began at 8:30 a.m. on 19 May 2011 at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea with a report on the background of the second G20 Speakers‟ Consultation in Seoul given by the Hon. KWON Oh Eul, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and the Secretary General of the National Assembly of Korea.
The report was followed by the opening remarks of H.E. PARK Hee Tae, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
In his speech, he wished that the G-20 Seoul Speakers‟ Consultation would lay a cornerstone to create a safe world and a better future. Quoting a Korean saying, “Many hands make work light, ” he emphasized that many of current global challenges including natural disasters, a safe management of nuclear plants, poverty, terrorism and others could not be resolved by an individual government or country alone but could only be addressed by gathering wisdom in the international community especially at the parliamentary level. He also said that as Korea had been built on the ideal of making humanity prosperous, the Korean government would initiate many agenda for the prosperity of mankind. He concluded his remarks by expressing hopes that all of us would join hands to create a safe world and a better future.
After the opening remarks, Speaker Park introduced representatives in the following order:
The Honorable
Julio César Cleto COBOS, President of the Honorable Senate of Argentina, the Honorable Mr. Harry JENKINS, MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia, His Excellency Mr. Marco Aurélio Spall MAIA, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, His Excellency Shri K. Rahman KHAN, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha of India, Her Excellency Smt. Meira KUMAR, Speaker of Lok Sabha of India, His Excellency Dr. Marzuki ALIE, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, His Excellency Mr. Abdullah AL SHEIKH, President of Shura Council of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Ali ŞAHIN, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, His Excellency Mr. JIANG Shusheng, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People‟s Congress of China, His Excellency Mr. Jean-Léonce DUPONT, Vice President of the Senate of France, the Honorable Mr. Vannino CHITI, Vice President of the Senate of Italy, His Excellency Mr. Francisco Agustín ARROYO VIERYA,, Vice President of the Senate of Mexico, His Excellency Mr. Alexander P. TORSHIN, First Deputy
Chairman of the Council of Federation of Russia and the Honorable Mr. Mukharbek I. DIDIGOV, Deputy Chairman of Financial Markets Committee, who were sitting on behalf of Mr. Torshin, Her Excellency Ms. Rodi KRATSA-TSAGAROPOULOU, Vice President of the European Parliament, the Honorable Ms. Yonah MARTIN, Senator of Canada, the Honorable Mr. Tadashi HIRONO, Member of the House of Councillors of Japan, The Right Honourable Sir John Paul STANLEY, MP, House of Commons/Chairperson of the Committees on Arms Export Controls of the United Kingdom, the Honorable Representative Mr. Eni F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA, Former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the United States, His Excellency Mr. Hilton A. Dennis, Ambassador of South Africa to the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Mr. Abdelaziz ZIARI, President of the Peoples‟ National Assembly of Algeria, His Excellency Mr. Angel Serafin Seriche DOUGAN MALABO, President of the House of Peoples' Representatives of Equatorial Guinea, His Excellency Mr. ABDULLAH Tarmugi, Speaker of Parliament of Singapore, His Excellency Sr. D. Francisco Javier ROJO García, President of the Senate of Spain, Her Excellency Ms. Teresa CUNILLERA, Vice President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain, Mr. Anders Bengt JOHNSSON, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and 13 members of the Korean delegation including Hon. CHUNG Eui Hwa, Hon. HONG Jae Hyung, who are the Vice Speakers of the Korean National Assembly.
He appreciated the presence of all the delegates despite their busy schedule and again extended heartfelt welcome to all the delegations.
He continued proceeding into the Session I, introducing himself as the Chair for the inaugural session.
II. Session I- “Strategies for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti terrorism”
Following the opening ceremony, the first session of the day was called to order at 09:00 a.m. and chaired by His Excellency Mr. Park Hee Tae, of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. A total of six sessions will be discussed over two days, under the three agenda of “strategy for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism”, “strategies for developing economies based on the development experiences of advanced countries”, and “post-financial crisis international coordination towards shared growth and the role of parliaments”. The first item on the agenda, “strategy for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism”, is discussed in three sessions. At the onset of the session, five speakers made presentations and the floor was open to comments and discussions.
The first presenter of the session was His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Ali Sahin, Speaker of Grand National Assembly of Turkey. In his speech, he expressed his hopes that the first session yield successful results following the successful meeting in Canada.
He said that the topic on anti-terrorism coincides with the ongoing intensive international fight against global terrorism. Speaker Sahin emphasized that the Consultation is a meaningful event indicating the joint commitment of G20 countries in counter-terrorism. Terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, transnational organized crimes, and illegal migration are amongst the problems that increasingly threaten world peace.
Climate change, the trend of local economic crisis growing into global economic crisis, and cultural conflicts must be addressed urgently. The world is no longer a safe place due to terrorist organizations with the advance of technology. The killing of Osama bin Laden is a significant step in fighting terrorism.
However, Al Qaeda induced the unjust and unfounded association of Islam with terrorism. The speaker expressed Turkey‟s commitment and assured that Turkey is against all efforts to attempt to connect Islam with terrorism. It is of utmost importance that the international community makes this distinction between terrorism and religion. He argued that the international community cannot ignore the political, cultural, and economic problems that expanded terrorism.
Mr. Sahin addressed the experiences in Turkey and expressed his concerns about the link being a threat on the global society. The international community has to be consistent and resolute in fighting terrorism.
Mr. Sahin emphasized that the determination in fighting terrorism must be complemented with capacity enhancing measures, resources, and expertise. In this respect, Turkey has been providing training programs to countries, ranging from Africa to Asia, where the people are in need of help against the threat of terrorism.
The speaker expressed his beliefs on the establishment of a multi-dimensional and an international joint anti-terrorism methodology is crucial to fight terrorism. He expressed his strong beliefs that the main goal of counter-terrorism must be to eradicate all forms of terrorism. Unfortunately, the lack of an agreed definition of terrorism, with the base of joint understanding at the international
level, serves as an obstacle in fighting this global problem.
Different approaches in dealing with terrorism vary between countries, which is one of the main reasons that complicate the process of coming to an agreement on the definition of terrorism. In this respect, the speaker suggested that for the successful collaboration in anti-terrorism, it is necessary for the international community use the definition of terrorism in all its forms and manifestation. The efforts of the parliaments to establish legal ground for anti-terrorism are important. The speaker said that the United Nations must be in the center of anti-terrorism activities.
The speaker also mentioned that the theme for the Consultation, “Development and Growth for common prosperity” is relevant and important because it is linked to all issues such as economic inequality, poverty, injustice, ethnical conflicts, illegal migration, and fair distribution of food and energy resources. Mr. Sahin emphasized that the international community should focus not only on anti-terrorism but also on the underlying reasons. The solutions we agree on must be made with considerations on these reasons. We must maintain our trust in finding solutions on the basis of international law and effective multilateralism.
The second presenter was Her Excellency Smt. Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha of India. In her speech, she stated that over the years G20 discussed issues of global significance. She stated that the greatest achievement of our times is the emergence of democracy. After the end of the Second World War and the Cold War years, global terrorism emerged as a threat to world peace. Now, terrorism transcends geographical boundaries.
The speaker states that the act of terrorism causes not only the loss of lives and properties but also impacts economies adversely. Especially in our interconnected and globalised world, the aftershock on the economy especially impacts those in poor countries. Therefore she points out that it is imperative for the G20 countries to pull sources and intelligence to fight terrorism.
The speaker states that there are already several initiatives to fight terrorism whether individually or collectively. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has focused on strengthening the legal regime against terrorism. Yet, she states that the problem remains. Ms. Kumar gives an example of her country, India, which has been the victim of terrorism. In the international cooperation in the war against terror, India has been participating in the efforts at the United Nations. She expressed the deep commitment of India to fulfilling the obligations under the international conventions and UN Security Council legislations. India believes that international
cooperation is imperative for striking terror networks. Therefore, she maintained that there is an urgent need to evolve global consensus towards early conclusion of a wide ranging multilateral legal instrument, like the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, which will cover wide ranging terrorist acts within its ambit. She added that this Convention provides a detailed legal framework for collective and integrated action against those who support and finance terror and fortify global efforts against terrorism. Ms. Kumar strongly urged the international community to conclude the negotiations that began in 1996 and adopt the same. The killing of Osama bin Laden is a landmark event. However, this is not the end of an ongoing war against terrorism. She emphasizes that the international community must remain vigilant. She strongly urged that we must unite and take the lead in confronting this global challenge in an integrated and effective manner. She also mentioned that since terrorists raise money and utilize funds globally using and exploiting the financial systems of several countries, international cooperation and Global consensus on early conclusion of a wide ranging multilateral legal instruments was imperative. In particular, she referred to India‟s role as a full member of the Financial Task Force since June 2010, and also as a member of the Egmont Group, as well as Asia Pacific Group, and the Eurasian Group on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.
The third presenter was His Excellency Mr. Marzuki Alie, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia. Mr. Alie stated Indonesia‟s support for the theme of the Consultation, development and growth for common prosperity. He shared the view of his country regarding the discussions in strategies for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism. The speaker stated that it is necessary to create a safer future to achieve common prosperity. In order to create maximum prosperity, threats from terrorism should not be tolerated. He explained the case of Indonesia where the acts of terrorism not only killed the innocent but also harmed the economy due to the impact on investments and tourism. The speaker also stated that terrorism also brought disgrace to Islam. He said that Islam seems to be accused of the source of terrorism acts while it is clear that Islam has become the victim of terrorism acts. In fact, Islam teaches the value of humanity, tolerance, and provides space for democracy to flourish. Mr. Alie pointed out, based on the experiences of Indonesia, that using the same approach can worsen the situation. The speaker, therefore, strongly proposed that it is very important to establish the inter state and inter-parliamentary cooperation in counter-terrorism measures. UN or regional cooperation. Mr. Alie also said that in order to address the international terror acts, the international community must make a common effort by referring to the existing mechanism, whether it is the UN Cooperation Framework or regional cooperation. In the continuous process at the multilateral level, Indonesia is consistently enhancing cooperation, especially with the United
Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED). The speaker emphasized the importance of the G20 member states‟ inter-parliamentary commitment to fight terrorism by enhancing the quality of democracy and improving parliament active role. He stated examples such as controlling government performance in fighting terrorism, providing adequate budget for the government, and establishing necessary laws with the basis of democracy, legal and human rights approach. He expressed his hopes that the international community continuously discuss and accommodate new ideas to fight terrorism.
The fourth speaker was the Honorable Representative Mr. Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the United States. Mr. Faleomavaega noted that the Speakers‟ Consultation is an opportunity for the international community converse about problems that transcend national boundaries and the solutions to them is unique. The fact that the G20 member states gathered in Seoul, Korea to address the global financial crisis, poverty, climate change, food shortages and terrorism indicates that it is still hopeful to solve these issues. The speaker explained a Samoan proverb, Ua „ou seuseu ma le fata, which means that many individuals join together in making a big fish net.
The theme of the Consultation, Development and Growth for Common Prosperity, goes well with this proverb. In discussing the challenges that harm peace, and in terms of international terrorism, the speaker strongly suggested that efforts to enhancing economical, social, and political stability are the best means to meet the challenges.
He also noted that these efforts need not to be the same in every country. The international community can learn from the experiences of other countries and adapt to appropriate and individual circumstances that fit each parliamentary customs and traditions. Mr. Faleomavaega mentioned the experience of the Republic of Korea as an example. Korea‟s accomplishment in economic development,
political stability, and achieving democracy is an example that may give hope to other countries that are still struggling with poverty, autocratic governance, and fears of conflict and injustice. He mentioned that countries such as the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, and India are investing in the developing world. These contributions are important to establishing economic and political stability and eventually promote lasting peace and bring mitigation of conflict. Mr. Faleomavaega said that policy decisions made by parliament have profound effects on the economy and society.
The final presenter of the session was the Right Honourable Sir John Stanley, MP, House of Commons and Chairperson of the Committees on Arms Export Controls of the United Kingdom. Mr. Stanley stated that he believes there is no area of policy in which the inter-parliamentary collaboration is more important than the area of world peace and anti-terrorism. It is also one of the more difficult areas for collaboration due to the sensitivity of the matter, but it is encouraging that collaboration does already exist. The speaker expressed his hopes that the existence of international organizations for fighting against terrorism and collaborating on issues of counter terrorism and security will encourage other countries bringing joint efforts in counter-terrorism and security, which don‟t have a parliamentary assembly in function. He also emphasized the importance in dealing with policy. Especially, the speaker mentions that one of the most important areas where the achievement in greater collaboration is crucial is the international controls on export of weapons and military technology. Mr. Stanley said that the international community should be reminded about the misjudgment of risk involved in exporting weapons, which resulted in being used for internal repression. He explained that EU member states have agreed on eight criteria related to this issue. The speaker expressed his belief that this agreement can serve as a good starting point on dealing with the issue of arms exports. An international worldwide arms trade treaty is not in place, which the speaker strongly believes will contribute to world peace.
The Chair opened the floor to comments. A total of six speakers from five parliaments took the floor during comments.
The first comment was from the Honorable Dr. Saleh Alnamlah of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alnamlah noted that living in a globalized world, we are closer to each other than ever before, with dignity and respect for each other. It also means diversity in culture and social lives and therefore, we should celebrate our differences. The commentator explained about the national dialogue in Saudi Arabia, where people talk about differences within society. It is also held at the international level. He strongly expressed that it is the key issue to start to talk between communities, cultures, civilizations.
The second comment was given by the Honorable Mr. Sung-gon Kim, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. Mr. Kim stated that extremists have conducted acts of terror, and therefore, international collaboration to eradicate terrorism is very much needed. He also mentioned that it is important to understand the fundamental reasons for terrorism. He argues that inequality in economics, bipolarization of society, the oppression of people, and negligence of the advanced nations for developing countries may be some of the reasons for terrorism. Mr. Kim said
that terrorism cannot be justified, but we need to understand these reasons. Therefore, the G20 nations have the responsibility to consider the countries in poverty.
The third comment was from the Honorable Ms. Yonah Martin, Senator of Canada, on behalf of the Honorable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate of Canada. Ms. Martin commented on the five presentations of the first session and agreed that what we cannot do alone, we must do together. She stated that Korea is like a symbol of hope, where democracy has prevailed. The commentator mentioned looking forward to sharing the Canadian perspective and commitment. She commented that there should be no tolerance for violence and that all forms of terrorism must be rejected.
The fourth comment was from the Honorable Mr. Harry Jenkins, MP, and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia. Mr. Jenkins commented that the five presentations were excellent in setting the direction of the Consultation. He expressed concurrence with the remarks clearly identifying that terrorism can‟t easily be categorized and cannot be defined as being motivated by religion. It shows that the willingness to understand the issue is being neglected. He acknowledged that it is not easy because of our differences. He said, however, that is we communicate, listen and learn what the differences are so that agreements can be made.
The fifth comment was from the Honorable Ms. Sun-young Park, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. The commentator said, as mentioned, the issues of world peace cannot be achieved without global efforts. In resolving tension and conflict, our approach has to be different from the past. The Republic of Korea also suffered attacks from North Korea on two counts. She also mentioned examples such as threats from the Somali pirates, climate change, the recent earthquake that hit Japan and the subsequent collapse of the nuclear plants. These are the issues that need to be discussed. She strongly suggested that these issues have to be practical and concrete. She said that we need to share information and build a network based on that information,
resulting in creating a large safety net.
The last comment of the session was given by His Excellency Mr. Abdelaziz Ziari, President of the Peoples‟ National Assembly of Algeria. In his speech, he mentioned that in Algeria, people are vulnerable to terrorism. In this respect, dialogue is vital and concrete results are needed. Also, Mr. Ziari said that there should be no link religion with terrorism. We should not think that terrorism has to do with religion and ideology. He said that parliamentarians should make best efforts to enact laws to eradicate terrorism.
The Chair declared the session adjourned and noticed that the second session will meet at 10:30.
III. Session II- “Strategies for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism”
The second session, which began at 10:40 a.m. after a coffee break, continued deliberations on “Strategies for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism.”
The session was chaired by Her Excellency Smt. Meira KUMAR, Speaker of Lok Sabha of India.
The first presenter of the session was His Excellency Mr. Marco Aurélio Spall MAIA, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil.
President Maia began his presentation by thanking H.E. Park Hee Tae, Speaker of the Korean National Assembly and the Chair.
He mentioned that all the delegates were gathered to discuss a better future, a future of world peace and anti terrorism, but still didn‟t know by which means to achieve it.
He emphasized that one-sided approach would not be able to ensure economic development, world peace and prosperity and solve environmental problems. Environmental security was very important for a safer future and a better quality of life.
President Maia explained that as environment and sustainable development were intertwined issues, Brazil had many regulations and legislations on environment that could contribute to the peace, prosperity, and security for all.
He said that anti-terrorism efforts should also be given to fight poverty and hunger and increase respect to human rights and the G-20 framework should be used as a means to achieve a world peace.
In the meantime, he pointed out the climate change issue as another frequently discussed topic these days, but its severity had not been recognized enough though it had impacted our lives in the forms of floods, water and food shortage, torrential rains, and etc. He also said that climate change affected economic growth and health of the people, and under-developed countries were the hardest hit.
Therefore, he called on concerted efforts to address the issues, and introduced the Green Job
initiative sponsored by the ILO and the UN, which focused on reducing carbon emissions and creating more jobs in developing countries.
He continued to point out that environment industry was expected to grow dramatically in years and had lots of potential for job creation and it was proved in many developed countries such as the U.S. and the European countries.
He called on swift actions and common solutions within the UN and G-20 framework considering the share of population and economic capacity taken by the group of countries. He also recognized the importance of dialogue as a basic foundation for resolving problems and progress for a better future.
Following President Maia of Brazil, His Excellency Sr. D. Francisco Javier ROJO Garcia, President of the Senate of Spain took the floor to give the second presentation, titled “Inter parliamentary collaboration strategy for global peace and fight against terrorism.”
He emphasized that the defence of life and freedom was a fundamental value in a democratic society and the answers to global terrorism could only be found in the values that had given dignity to life in common, freedom, respect for human rights, and fair relations between people, shared progress, cooperation and solidarity.
He said that no human dream and no proposal could justify committing a murder or terrorism.
He introduced various efforts and strategies that Spain had made in the past years based on the lessons they learned. He said that Spain was defeating terrorism with the contribution of police efficiency, the sturdiness of courts and legislation approved by the Parliament and rigorously enforced by the judges.
He called for the international community a political consensus to fight terrorism by analyzing it from all dimensions.
He emphasized, however, terrorism was not the heritage of a certain civilization, culture or religion.
He recognized the UN‟s leadership in bringing the international community together and strengthening the legitimacy of efforts to be made. He also acknowledged the role of parliaments in discouraging terrorist acts and promoting global democracy. Through the efforts, he said that we could resolve three issues: gender equality, immigration, and terrorism.
He emphasized that we were hugely indebted to the victims of terrorism and acknowledged their pain to move forward.
Next, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary of the IPU was requested to take the floor for the third presentation.
He was addressing the delegates on behalf of the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Dr. Theo-Ban Gurirab, the Speaker of the Parliament of Namibia.
President Gurirab noted the draft Joint Communique, which acknowledged the work of the Inter parliamentary Union in the area of conflict mediation and parliamentary diplomacy, which had been at the core of the IPU‟s statutory mandate.
He noted that Secretary General Johnsson came to Seoul from Pyongyang where he had discussions with the Speaker of the Supreme People‟s Assembly how parliamentarians from both the north and the south could help to protect peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Though the session‟s subject was world peace, he sought other delegates‟ understanding to discuss the subject of the global economy and the question of social protection because there was no greater threat to worldwide stability than the suffering brought by extreme poverty.
He noted that some good advances in government regulation of the financial sector had been made since the outbreak of the economic crisis, which he found not compelling enough.
He noted widening income inequality and poverty, but said that the real problem is political. He called on the governments and parliaments to listen attentively to the people, treating all as equals under the law, regardless of wealth, social status or gender, with the same rights to participate and be represented in decision-making.
He emphasized that respect for democracy would save and redeem the world and we must all participate in the endeavor, examining our institutions with honesty.
He reckoned that widening the safety nets for the poorest was needed, and in this connection, he called on the G20 Speakers Consultation to welcome President Sarkosi‟s pledge to place the Social Protection Floor at the core of the G20 French presidency agenda.
He expressed his belief in more roles that could be taken by parliaments in pushing for more social protection legislation. He said that parliamentarians must accept that sharing growth meant sharing power, and governance meant nothing other than abiding by the exacting standards of parliamentary democracy and adhering to the rule of law. In conclusion, he said that if the understanding that democracy was central to solving our economic woes were to gain traction, then there would truly be hope for a peaceful future.
Following the presentation of Mr. Johnsson was the presentation of His Excellency Mr. Alexander P. TORSHIN, First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Federation of Russia.
He noted the emergence of new technologies in recent years that gave rise to international terrorist acts.
The death of Osama Bin Laden would signal a halt of terrorist attacks to some degree but also could lead to new acts of terror.
As acts of terror had much repercussion around the world, political changes in the Middle East and Africa could create an environment prone to terrorism. In this connection, he emphasized that collaboration on bilateral, regional and international level was more important than anything.
He recognized the importance of inter-parliamentary exchanges, as we could share information, experiences and thus revamp our rules and regulations.
To this end, he recognized the need to create a convention to end international cyber crimes and strengthen our systems to sever the funding towards international terrorist groups.
He also noted that increasing number of public and civilian facilities including railroads and nuclear plants became the targets of terrorist organizations. To address this problem, he called on international criteria to assess damages done to the facilities as well as the victims.
He said that proper attention should be given to addressing related crimes such as extremism and separatism. The international community, therefore, should come up with creative ways to respond to the new forms and trends of terrorism, and invite collaboration from the media, academia, business and religious groups.
He called on the participating parliamentarians to be more proactive in upholding noble goals. He noted that Russia had also been very active in counter-terrorism, introducing a Special Committee set up in the parliament of the nation and expressed his belief that parliamentarians had more roles to play in the issue of terrorism.
After Mr. Torshin‟s presentation, the floor was open to comments.
His Excellency Mr. Angel Serafin Seriche DOUGAN MALABO, President of the House of Peoples‟ Representatives of Equatorial Guinea was requested to take the floor. He expressed the hopes for collaboration between parliaments and network for information sharing through today‟s deliberations.
He noted that not only terrorist organizations but also individual terrorists should be countered. He said that the country had made efforts to sever the flow of capital to terrorism. Since there was an attempt to assassin the nation‟s President, Equatorial Guinea had been active in counter terrorism and the efforts came to fruition.
However, he noted that smaller scale threats of terrorism should not be underestimated and we should put justice at the forefront of counter-terrorism efforts to minimize the number of victims.
Next, the Honorable Mr. Tadashi HIHONO, Member of the House of Councilors of Japan took the floor and thanked all the G-20 member countries as well as non G-20 countries for their words of comfort, support and encouragement after the devastating earthquake in Japan.
He noted that there were many threats in Northeast Asia, most notably North Korea‟s nuclear program, kidnapping and humanitarian issues. The issues were not only threatening the security in the region, but also the entire world.
He said that after a series of attacks on South Korea from the North in last year, tensions escalated in the region, and bilateral, multilateral efforts were made to tackle the issue. However, the efforts were not accepted by the North, therefore, parliaments should be given the mandate to ensure peace and prosperity for the people and also had to continue persuasion and engagement towards North Korea.
He emphasized that the most important task was to make North Korea abandon its nuclear programs, come back to the international community as a responsible member, recognized that no compensations would be given until it kept its promises. And he hoped that what he mentioned was reflected in the Joint Communiqué.
The Honorable PARK Jin, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea took the next floor.
He welcomed all the delegations to Korea and acclaimed many deliberations made in the session. Among others, he pointed out the issue of climate change, food shortage, rising price of oil. He said that we should find out opportunities to overcome the challenges and to change our economic paradigm to continue sustainable development.
He noted that the G-20 meeting was, in principle, a forum to deal with financial and economic crisis of the world, but it also should pay due attention to the social and economic impact of the climate change and take appropriate measures.
On the second agenda, which was fight against terrorism, he said that there were obvious concerns
over threats from North Korea such as cyber terrorism and nuclear proliferation. He expressed his belief that we should firmly and systematically respond to the acts of provocation while making efforts to bring about peace and stability in the region through inter-Korea dialogues and the six party talks, if possible.
He called on the G-20 process to give due attention to these issues and consider how to deal with them in an effective manner.
He concluded by inviting delegates to the Drafting Committee for the Joint Communiqué to be held at 2: 30 p.m.
After the Honorable Park Jin, the Honorable Mr. Arlindo CHINAGLIA, Former Speaker and member of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil was given the floor.
He said that poverty, hunger and social justice were the issues that we should deal with to move onto the bigger issue, counter-terrorism. The most effective way to devise counter terrorism measures was to make our people have hope for the future. He continued that there would be many reasons for disputes but we should exert efforts to narrow the differences and that‟s why we gathered here.
He called on parliamentarians to devise more specific measures for various issues including arms trade based on individual country‟s experiences and dialogues.
The Honorable JUNG Ok Imm, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea took the floor and said that it was very meaningful and timely for the G-20 Speakers‟ Consultation to discuss world peace and anti-terrorism because they were deeply intertwined with global finance and economy.
Emphasizing that international terrorism cannot and should not be tolerated, she noted that South Korea had made various efforts to prevent terrorism at bilateral and multilateral level. She reminded the delegates that if the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) fell into the hands of international terrorists, it would be the worst case scenario for the international stability. In that manner, regular talks and dialogues were required and actions should be taken to the countries supporting or manipulating international terrorism. She called for more specific discussions on legislation, monitoring of government activities, information sharing, counter-terrorism among the G-20 parliaments.
Lastly, His Excellency Mr. Francisco Agustin ARROYO VIERYA, Vice President of the Senate of Mexico was called to take the floor.
He said that terrorism was the most brutal act against humanity and regardless of its motives, it
should not be tolerated. But at the same time, we should not have a prejudice that certain religions or ideologies created terrorism. It appeared in various forms such as arms trade, which affected Mexico greatly. Noting that it destructed operations of many public organizations, he called on the international community to bring the terrorists to justice and work together to address such issues as arms and drug trades.
After Mr. Arroyo Vierya‟s comment, two more requests remained, but because of the time limit, the Chair sought understanding of the speakers and concluded the session.
IV. Session III (Special Session) - “Strategies for inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism: International coordination strategy for global safety”
The third session of the day was called to order at and chaired by His Excellency Mr. Marco Aurélio Spall Maia, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil.
Three speakers made presentations and the floor was open to comments and discussions.
The first presenter of the session was the Honorable Mr. Tadashi Hirono, member of the House of Councillors of Japan. The speaker talked about the 3/11 Japan earthquake that cost the lives of many people. He expressed his deepest gratitude to those who showed comfort offered aid to Japan. He also addressed the concerns over the nuclear power plant accident. The speaker explained that the reactor itself has not been harmed and the radiation that exceeded the level of limits is only within the 30km radius. He assured that safety has not been breached and that Japan is doing its utmost best to protect the health of the public.
He acknowledged that the focus of discussion in the future will be on this topic, and he explained in detail of what happened at Hukushima nuclear power plants. He explained that while the exterior of the reactor was damaged, there is no damage to the reactor itself, and that the release of radiation was minimal.
He continued by saying that it was a release of hydrogen, which is inevitable in the process of releasing pressure. The speaker said that regarding the incident, Japan is still working to solve this issue. The speaker said that there are three tasks that parliaments should address. First, there should be measures that address such risks regarding nuclear power plants. He pointed out that, reflecting upon what happened in Japan, countries should review the measures that are already in
place.
Second, there should be a clear disclosure of information. In Japan, misunderstanding of the scope and speed of the disclosed information delivered existed, and this should not happen in the future. Third, he said that we must strengthen the institutions in place. He stressed that a system has to be in place so that the government know what happens as soon as possible. All countries have safety regulations and emergency response frameworks, but it has to be tightened. After the 3/11 earthquake, Japan witnessed a drop in tourists. Although Japan did sustain damages, business is conducted as usual and radiation-affected food is not being exported. The speaker explained that the radius of 30 km is firmly set and outside that region is safe, whether for tourism or business.
The second presenter of the session was the Honorable Mr. Harry Jenkins, MP, and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia. Examples for positive actions in terms of the topic of this session, inter-parliamentary collaboration for world peace and anti-terrorism, especially in international strategies for global action is where we should focus on. The speaker talked about the use of intelligence in understanding terrorism, especially the parliamentary oversight of the intelligence services and their cooperation and coordination at an international level. He stated that terrorism knows no boundaries. In the case of Australia, the strategy followed by the Australian government to protect the people from terrorism is based on; a long term commitment, intelligence
led prevention, risk-informed counter-terrorism strategies, the response must always be lawful and accountable, mechanisms must be in place to respond to and recover from terrorism, and the support of community and business.
He expressed his strong beliefs that inter-parliamentary engagement plays an important role in assisting governments with counter-terrorism measure. The speaker said that as parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to create an environment that ensures peace and stability. He explained that parliaments have to making sure that the counter-terrorism measures are lawful and proportionate to the problem and that there is accountability in implementation. Transparency is important in this aspect. In this respect, the speaker noted that on building community resilience to terrorism involves promoting democracy, human rights and pluralism, inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue, respect,
understanding cooperation and peace building, and inclusive approaches to social development.
The last presenter of the session was the Honorable Mr. Vannino Chiti, Vice President of the Senate of Italy. The speaker stated that the role of parliament is important in the prevention of counter-terrorism and crime. In the future, parliaments need to work in a complex and new manner,
on a broader scale. He said that there has to be discussions on crucial measures to protect people from suffering from poverty, injustice and social inequality, lack of opportunities, civil and political freedom. The speaker noted that the international community is faced with the challenge of making a more balanced development throughout the world. Currently, North African countries are going through transitions at the cost of human sacrifice and bloodshed. Mr. Chiti explained that changes like these will shaped the relations with Europe and the rest of the world. He suggested that what the international community needs is to ensure a more balanced world based on economics and social advancement on well being and justice. Although the world cannot predict the outcome, the speaker pointed out that we should help the construction of real democracies. In 2006, the UN global counter-terrorism strategy was adopted. Also, on September 26
2001, the Council of European Parliamentary Assembly adopted the resolution calling on the international community to enact policies to secure democracy, human rights, and well being for people worldwide. The speaker said that human rights are more important than ever and should never be sacrificed. He gives an example of the Italian Senate‟s initiative called “Witnesses of Human Rights” since 2008. The initiative, explained by the speaker, is about visiting schools and explaining the importance of human rights. Also, the speaker mentioned that the Internet and other new forms of communication can overcome the barrier of isolation. He emphasized the importance of dialogue at regional and international level.
The Chair opened the floor to comments. A total of seven speakers from seven parliaments took the floor during comments.
The first comment was given by His Excellency Mr. Alie of Indonesia. The commentator mentioned the Somali pirates and that the international community must address this in common effort. In line with terrorism, the speaker said that corruption is similar in terms of the negative impact on international economic stability. He addresses the fact that the government and parliament must come together in addressing issues such as climate change and subsequent natural disaster, terrorism threats including corruption.
The second comment was from His Excellency Mr. Hilton A. Dennis, Ambassador of South Africa to the Republic of Korea, on behalf of the Honorable Max Sisulu, speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, who could not attend the Consultation due to government elections in South Africa. The commentator emphasized that in the attempt to address the issues of terrorism, an important building block would be to overcome poverty. Therefore, the idea of shared growth, which is the theme of this Consultation, is important. The implementation of the Seoul Development
Consensus for Shared Growth should be a priority going forward, as it is an important instrument in the fight against poverty.
The third comment was from His Excellency Sr. D. Francisco Javier Rojo Garcia, President of the Senate of Spain. The commentator said that environment issues and poverty is an urgent problem the world is facing. The dispute surrounding the shortage of resources continues to threaten security. He also points out that sustainable development is threatened by natural disaster.
Therefore, the commentator mentioned that in addressing issues such as the Japan earthquake, there has to be firm principles and international response. Active exchange of information is crucial.
The fourth comment was by the Honorable Dr. Abdullah Alabdulkader, Member of Parliament of Saudi Arabia. The commentator addressed a simple and straightforward issue: generation gap. He said that the young generation is using new channel of communication. He mentioned that we need to listen and understand what the young generation is talking about. Also, he addressed that they need more attention in the areas of education, health care, proper housing and more opportunities.
The fifth delegate to take the floor for comments was Ms. Yonah Martin, Senator of Canada. Ms. Martin mentioned that this session has been an effective way to share best practices and strategies via discussion and ideas. She commented on the program of “Witnesses of Human Rights” of Italy, and expressed gratitude for sharing the idea. She expressed the strong belief that in tackling terrorism we must get to the root of the problem.
The sixth comment was from the Honorable Ms. Akiko Santo, former Vice President of Japan. The commentator addressed the remarks by Ms. Martin. She said that the unprecedented disaster in Japan has required Japan to make a fundamental review that is in place. She also expressed hopes in coming up with a new direction in policy in terms of energy.
The last comment was given by the Honorable Mr. Faleomavaega of the United States of America. He mentioned that in the issue of poverty and hunger, and social justice, the term „extreme poverty‟ should be included. He explained that poverty means unequal distribution of wealth and America also struggles with this issue. Mr. Faleomavaega said that unequal distribution of wealth can be seen as the base of all fundamental issues discussed in the third session. He expressed his hope that in the remaining sessions of the Consultation these issues be discussed more.
The Chair declared the session adjourned and noticed that the fourth session will meet at 15:30.
V. Session IV- “Strategies for developing economies based on the development experiences of advanced countries”
The fourth session was chaired by His Excellency Sr. D. Francisco Javier ROJO Garcia, President of the Senate of Spain.
His Excellency Kassa Teklebrhan, Speaker of the House of Federation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia gave the first presentation of the session.
He stated that from his nation‟s experience, the most important precondition for any kind of development was ownership, meaning that a nation seeking development, be it economic, democratic or any other kind of development, had to own this desire.
Ethiopia started the process of development after a radical system change through deeply analyzing the problems and root causes of low level of development, studying the achievements and shortcomings of the nation and other nations‟ experiences.
The country then designed strategies fitting to their context. To accommodate diversity, a decentralized form of government was opted for, and a lack of capacity in many aspects was recognized. At this step the international community and development partners came into the game. He pointed out that in order to be successful, people‟s participation was important.
He underlined that it was not a coincidence for the country to achieve a dramatic economic growth over the years and invited other countries to Ethiopia which would provide new opportunities for investment.
He said that Ethiopia, a stable, peaceful and democratic country was surrounded by an unstable environment. In order to maintain its role as stable and secure country, the country would need partners and strengthened cooperation.
He mentioned that parliaments play a crucial role in terms of development and his parliament had learned a lot from parliaments from various countries regarding technical and political processes and procedures. Noting that parliaments of the developed world were in an excellent position to support Ethiopia‟s strive for development, he called upon delegates to ensure that the partnerships
were strengthened and the commitments made were met.
Following the presentation of Ethiopia, His Excellency Mr. Jean-Léonce DUPONT, Vice President of the Senate of France was given the floor for his presentation.
Before his presentation on economic development, he mentioned about the role of parliaments within
the G-20 framework. He expressed his belief that unless individual parliaments took direct actions, or found ways to influence issues at hand, it was difficult to give an exclusive role to parliaments because the responsibilities of devising and implementing policies through international negotiations would primarily be taken by the government.
However, he noted that this consultation was important as we were gathered to monitor and support G-20 agenda, and we should be more consistent with the G20 summit.
He focused on three main areas of interest. First was addressing climate change by holistic approaches. He underlined that for sustainable development, there needed to be discussions on natural resources, waste management, transportation and etc. He expressed his belief that developing countries were at advantage in certain areas like renewable energy development.
Second was African issues, which would also be discussed in November G-20 Summit in Canne. He made it clear that France would work on the issues regarding concrete actions for Africa including actions adopted in the Seoul Summit.
Third issue was raw materials price stability including food. He stressed that advanced countries should resolve this issue by regulating the distribution of food and stabilizing income of farmers. He said that creating a more stable economic environment on a global scale would be inevitable to promote development in underdeveloped countries.
He said that the experiences of the building of European bloc would be a good reference to those who were interested in regional peace, stability and co prosperity.
Another point he took was sharing of experiences in reverse direction, which meant that advanced countries could learn from developing and underdeveloped countries in the frameworks like the G-20.
The third presentation was given by His Excellency Angel Serafin Seriche DOUGAN MALABO, President of the House of Peoples‟ Representatives of Equatorial Guinea.
He emphasized the importance of the consultation because it was the first time for the representatives of peoples, not the governments, gathered together to look to ways for co prosperity.
He noted that peace was prerequisite for sustainable development, trade and economic growth, and economic stability facilitated peace.
However, he regretted that many African countries were affected by economic instability and conflicts, which constituted a vicious cycle.
Noting that a war could worsen poverty, hamper growth potential, weaken institutions, he made it clear that his country would not tolerate any violence to enforce one‟s will on others.
He called for a new cooperation model for mutual interest of participating countries, and a strongly integrated economic platform in Africa.
He stressed that inclusive growth, which ensured a balanced distribution of benefits of economic globalization and economic development, should be achieved. He noted that his country was one of the poorest countries around the world, however, thanks to a strong will of the government and civil society, a mid-term economic development strategy was put in place, which aimed to create more jobs and reduce poverty across the nation, and it resulted in the dramatic improvement of many economic and social indexes.
He said that the country devised a new four-point economic development strategy to address remaining structural issues in the country. As a result, he said that the country had become a nation taking steps forward for a greater development and proving that Africa could achieve the growth.
He informed that the President of Equatorial Guinea assumed the chairmanship of the African Union, and quoted his speech where he said that with the help of other countries in developing Africa‟s natural resources in a transparent manner, Africa would be able to safeguard the world.
He concluded introducing famous remarks made by his president: “Africa deserves compensation for exploitations it suffered for hundreds of years. We deserve it and so do our decedents.”
The next presenter was Her Excellency Ms. Teresa CUNILLERA, Vice President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain.
She said that one of the goals of this so called “Parliamentary meeting” was to come up with mechanisms to strengthen the cooperation among Parliaments to address peoples‟ concerns, and it was intended to transform the Parliament into a central institution for the progress of the 21
century‟s society.
She looked the role of the Parliaments as sounding boards of a public opinion, and that was the reason that we had to renovate and update the parliament to have predominant voice in major debates in the 21
century.
She noted that in the 21
century, the world was facing important challenges that constituted not only local but also global threats such as natural disasters, like the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, poverty, terrorism, financial crisis or the recent generalized society movement in the Arab
world.
She emphasized that the isolated efforts of each country did not suffice and close cooperation between the main actors of the global community was paramount, and the parliaments of the 21
century had to be present in the debates.
She pointed out access to essential resources ensuring a dignified life and providing quality public services were fundamental requirements for freedom, and it was the essence of politics.
In this connection, she urged an increased awareness of the commitments pledged for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, as developing countries would not be able to achieve these goals without compliance of developed countries, she urged the nations to reconcile rhetoric with action, make provisions and adopt achievable deadlines in order to attain the action goals.
She called for parliamentarians to contribute decisively to achieving the objectives, putting at the service of development all parliamentary functions and instruments. She also recognized the framework of the IPU as a venue for collective efforts at parliamentary level and emphasized the necessity to revitalize and update parliaments to the 21
century standards so that it could meet the increasing needs of a society.
After Vice President Cunillera‟s presentation, the floor was open for comments, first of which was taken by His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Ali ŞAHIN, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
He introduced the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries held in Istanbul ten days ago, which brought representatives from the governments and parliaments of the least developed countries together. The countries were faced with obstacles due to flaws in management of globalization and current international economic structure, which led to unequal distribution of wealth, hampered world peace and security. For that matter, he noted that all the parliaments, especially in advanced nations, had responsibilities to fulfill, which was to help the victims of globalization by establishing contacts, exchanging experiences, and monitoring government works to assist the least developed countries.
The floor was then given to the Honorable Ms. Akiko SANTO, Former Vice President of Japan.
Recognizing the purpose of this consultation as to share best practices, she informed that the House of Councilors of Japan was conducting independent efforts in line with international efforts with regards to development assistance by operating a committee to monitor government‟s works for development issues. Discussions had been made from various perspectives and many visits to the
sites of foreign aid projects had been made by parliamentarians which allowed them to get first hand experiences in development issues.
She noted that Japan took great interests in emerging economies, too, and to ensure the effectiveness of aids, the parliament of Japan would need to make sure that the aids were used in a most transparent and effective manner.
For that matter, the Japanese parliament was making efforts to enact related legislations. She confirmed that though the country was under financial difficulties for rehabilitation of the country, Japan would continue to be committed to foreign aids and promotion of democracy.
The next floor was taken by the Honorable KIM Hee Cheol, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
He said that in 2008, Korea went through a financial crisis that actually triggered a change in paradigm centered on advanced countries. He acknowledged the need for a new paradigm focusing on developing countries, which should not be a simple provision of aid but cooperation for co prosperity.
The Honorable Ir. H. Azam Azman Natawijana, member of the House of Representatives of Indonesia was given the next floor, and he recognized the need to form a cooperation framework for development. Experiences of development could not be uniformly applied to developing countries.
Every country should have development strategies best serving their respective conditions, and information sharing and transfer of technology from developed countries were crucial. He underlined the need for sharing of knowledge in education, manufacturing, health, food and many other sectors as well as enhancing international and South-South cooperation.
He said that a commitment for sustainable development should also be adopted in national banking sectors.
Current condition of poverty with refer to the income aspect was no longer appropriate to be applied because it could offer an inaccurate illustration of the welfare and social life condition of the human being. Similarly, the economic growth concept used as the key indicator to measure the world economic progress was no longer suitable.
The Honorable CHO Yoon Seon, member of the National Assembly of Korea took the floor.
She welcomed the opportunity to comment on the development issue. She said that she was serving as the goodwill ambassador of KOICA, Korea‟s state-run foreign aid agency. In the framework of the G-20, Korea served as a bridge between developed and developing countries and the Summit
held in Seoul agreed on a shared growth and developed multi-year development action plans.
She also noted France‟s commitment to coming up with investment strategies for the next G-20 summit and hoped a success of the G-20 to be held in Canne, France.
She noted that many countries wanted to learn from Korea‟s experiences, but it was hard to tell what was the biggest contributor to the economic development of Korea. She reckoned that one of the key factors would be a strong will of self-help of the people of Korea. In this regard, she agreed to the Speaker of the Ethiopian parliament who said that ownership and desire for a better future would lead to a great outcome. She said that Korea had three things in mind: what the recipient countries of Korea‟s aid wanted, what Korea could provide best, and how Korea could coordinate with other donors. In that regard, Korea made efforts to shift the paradigm of foreign aid from unilateral provision of aids to working together for a comprehensive development plan.
In conclusion, she said that their today was like our yesterday, and we should make their tomorrow like our today. She continued to note that we had to start work together today, not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
Mr. Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary General of the IPU was given the floor.
He noted the remarks of the Vice President Cunillera of Spain, which was about the role of parliaments in discussions on concerns of the society and the nation. He said that the remarks were also well linked to the conference mentioned by Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin of Turkey. One of the very unique things about that LDC conference was that for the first time the international community recognized that when it comes to development, if we didn‟t get our governance and institutions right, in particular, if we didn‟t focus on assisting and ensuring that parliaments could undertake their works, we would not go far enough. The outcome document of the Istanbul conference stated at the onset that when it came to development, parliamentary debates and discussions were very important. Also the document recognized the crucial role of parliaments to make sure a transparency and accountability with regard to foreign aids. He encouraged the participating parliaments to consider the issues of assisting the LDCs and taking on the tasks.
The Honorable Ms. Yonah Martin, Senator of Canada then took the floor.
She noted that she was encouraged by the presentation of Ethiopia and another important issue is to examine what didn‟t work in the efforts made with regard to development to learn from mistakes. She said that we should be culturally aware of recipient countries and in that regard, sometimes more was not necessarily better. She shared the example of Mozambique‟s flood and emphasized the importance of culture-sensitive communications.
The Honorable Eni FALEOMAVAEGA from the U.S. requested the Turkish delegation to elaborate more on the LDC conference as we have heard a lot from industrialized countries, but haven‟t many opportunities to hear from the DCs about their needs and opinions. However, Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin sought kind understanding to make his remarks at another opportunity because he had a bilateral meeting with the Speaker of the Republic of Korea.
The Chair concluded the session by informing the delegates that the session V would be convened at 9:00 a.m. in the morning of May 20.
VI. Session V- “Post-financial crisis international coordination towards shared growth and the role of parliament”
The fifth session of the Consultation was called to order at 9:00 and chaired by the Honorable Mr. Harry Jenkins, MP, and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia. The session was held under the theme of “post-financial crisis international coordination towards shared growth and the role of parliaments”.
The first speaker of the fifth session was His Excellency Mr. Jiang Shusheng, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People‟s Congress of China. In his speech, the speaker mentioned the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit adoption of the joint declaration and action plan. Based on this, the international community has continued to strive for joint prosperity. This session focuses on international collaboration as well as the role of parliaments in joint prosperity. The speaker said that the world economy has become more interconnected. Although the world economy is recovering, in the long term, for it to become sound and sustainable, there are uncertainties the international community needs to address. Mr. Shusheng expressed his belief that higher level of collaboration for shared growth is necessary. In this aspect, the speaker proposed the following. First, the international community needs to strive for balanced growth. Growth without balance will lead to uncertainties. The speaker stated that for joint accountability, the international society must collaborate in terms of increasing international aid and decreasing government deficit.
Second, the international society must come up with comprehensive plans for sustainable development followed by joint collaboration. Also, it has to strive to achieve the UN Millennium Goal at the earliest possible time.
Third, there has to be a system for co-existence. North-South collaboration is very much needed, while advanced nations and developing nations must respect development model of each country. The reform of the international financial system must reflect the changes in the economic structure. He emphasized that the voice of developing countries should be heard. As parliamentarians,
representing the voice of the people, the speaker addressed the importance of the role of the parliaments in economic paradigm shift. Creating eco-friendly environment, responding to climate change, and preserving natural resources are a few of the issues that parliaments must address. He said that the international community must learn from one another. Mr. Shusheng presented the case of China. In the past 30 years, China has seen remarkable growth, job creation, and GDP growth rate. It has contributed to the recovery of the global economy, which means that the growth of China‟ economy is in line with the global economy. China recently set the 12
5-year economic plan. The speaker explained that this plan focused on scientific development, economic restructuring, saving energy, reducing emission of pollutants, and achieving a just society. He expressed his commitment to continue development for the people, by the people and share the results with the people. He also emphasized China‟s commitment in striving for world peace, development, harmony, and shared prosperity.
The second speaker of the session was His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Al Sheikh, President of Shura Council of Saudi Arabia. The speaker mentioned that there was a common understanding of need to extend the agreements that were made in the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit, and to take part in exchanging expertise through dialogue to solidify the economic agreements made. He stated that parliaments are no longer a mere legislative body, but instead plays an important role in formulating policies. It also takes part in the efforts of international peace and security, and creates an environment for relationships between culture and people to form. Stability and balance in the global economy is the two most important aspect of shared international goal. The speaker presented the case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He stated that Saudi Arabia has always been seeking to make efforts for economic stability, especially, in the oil markets. He added that international dialogue contributes to the stability of international economy. Mr. Al Sheikh mentioned that there will be a Consultative Meeting in Saudi Arabia and extended his warm welcome in advance.
The third speaker was His Excellency Francisco Arroyo Vieyra, Vice-President of the Senate of Mexico. In his remarks, the speaker stated that the G20 Seoul Speakers‟ Consultation plays an important role in addressing the issue of inter-parliamentary collaboration. Mr. Arroyo Vieyra expressed his opinion to strengthen the Speakers‟ Consultation along with the G20 summits. He addressed the important role that parliaments play in the process of economic reform post-financial crisis, especially, in terms of unemployment. Mr. Arroyo Vieyra presented the case of Mexico. When the economy of the United States of America faltered, it impacted Mexico‟s economy because the two countries shared a close link. Both decrease in demand for Mexican products and human
resources led to a drop in Mexican‟s income. The biggest impact was the decrease in regular jobs, which resulted in a soar of unemployment rate. This had a stronger impact on young and irregular workers. In response to this crisis, the Mexican Senate convened a forum and exchanged ideas. One of the suggestions was a need for short term and long term reforms. On October 26
, 2010, the Mexican Senate approved the First Employment Act. The reason for the enactment of this Act is that workers in finding first jobs need social protection and through tax reduction employers can provide better quality in first jobs. The Mexican Senate also increased the minimum wage. Traditional system such as shortening working hours in order to share jobs, were implemented. However, increasing imbalance due to economic crisis is resistant. Bringing down the unemployment rate is a priority but because Mexico‟s economy rely on that of America‟s, it is difficult to achieve. Unilateral actions or protectionism makes it hard to respond to such economic crisis. The speaker stated that this is why the current economic recovery is calling for a new direction. One of the agreements made was that we need to achieve shared sustainable growth through collaboration. He added that globalization means that as parliamentarians, we need to make sure that we respond to the issues together.
The fourth presentation was by His Excellency Shri K. Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the Council of States, of India. In his speech, the speaker talked about despite the recovery of the global economy, the world still faces many challenges. The G20 nations are not only contributing to the strengthening of the international economic cooperation, but also providing opportunities for dialogue on economic and financial development policies. He stated that it has become a more multipolar world and parliamentarians have an obligation to reflect the common concern of the people. The responsibility to promote greater accountability and transparency in institutions and to provide direction for conducting and sustaining the policy towards balanced growth must not be neglected. The global financial crisis has underlined the fact that while globalization offers opportunities, it also offers challenges. It affected all nations, regardless of the level of economic development. Therefore, to tackle this issue, inter-parliamentary collaboration is necessary to maximize collective wealth. The speaker emphasized that the G20 nations have made significant and concrete changes in assisting the recovery of the economic crisis. The inclusion of the issue of narrowing the development gap as a core agenda item in the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit was a significant step in a new direction of international cooperation. He strongly presented that the G20 nations must ensure that the fruits of strong and sustainable growth are shared among all countries, including the poorest.
The fifth presentation for the session was given by His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi,
Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore. In his speech, he talked about the three sources of fragility in the international monetary and financial systems. He explained that the first source lies in the advanced countries. The second source affects the emerging markets most significantly. The yield differentials between the advanced and developing economies have led into an influx of capital into the emerging market economies in search of higher yield, which heightened risk of overheating. The third source lies in the commodity market. These aspects are economical in nature but also have political and social significance. The speaker stated that the underlying risks of fragility still remain. Therefore the role of G20 to help the global economy recover is crucial. He said that without global growth, it is irrelevant to talk about shared growth. He also stated that the advanced countries have to restructure their economies, bring unemployment rate down, and find the right mixture of industries to enhance international competitiveness. Although this may be a long and painful process, the speaker addressed that leaders around the world need to demonstrate political will. On the other hand, emerging markets need to stimulate domestic demand. To mitigate any potential crisis, safety net should be in place. These structural reforms in both advanced and developing nations are absolutely needed. Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi stated the three broad areas of policy adjustments. First, the area of exchange rates was and always will be a part of the solution. Second, fiscal consolidation and sustainability will be crucial in advanced nations. Third, capital flows management is another important element. To this end, the speaker mentioned that parliamentarians can play a critical role to communicate the importance of these reforms.
The Chair opened the floor to comments. A total of three speakers from three parliaments took the floor during comments.
The first comment was delivered by Honorable Ms. Akiko Santo, former Vice President of Japan. She commented on the issue of soundness in the economic sector. First, improving the ability for supervision is an important area to focus on. In the case of Japan, inflow of capital to areas of low productivity was one of the problems in financial instability. New risks require supervisory organizations to be aware of this. Second, non-bank financial institutions also play a large role in the financial sector. Third, we need to make sure debt-to-asset ratio should be limited. The regulations concerning the soundness of financial institutions must be in harmony with economic growth, and this should be discussed at the international level.
The second commentator was Ms. Seong-nam Lee, Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. Ms. Lee commented that in-depth view of the financial crisis was discussed in this session. And that is underscored the importance of cooperation between parliaments as well as
between countries. The global financial crisis taught us what problems we had. It also showed us how we can prevent such crises in the future. She mentioned one of the lessons learned, which was that the international financial system needs a safety net. The international society must set up strong safety net and also see that they actually work. Monitoring and provide feedback is also one of things that must be addressed in the future. Therefore, it should be understood that the role of inter-parliament cooperation is important.
The last comment for the fifth session was given by Honorable Mr. Azam Azman Natawijana, Member of Parliament of Indonesia. In his comments, he addressed that the international community still has to stay aware of any signs for threats in its financial systems. He stated that Indonesia supports international stability and growth for common prosperity. Also, he expressed his country‟s support of the Financial Stability Board and the Minister of Finance of G20 nations on managing capital flow, especially the flow of hot money to the developing countries. He added that considering the current global trend, Indonesia in focusing on food issues and the volatility of oil commodity prices. He urged the international community to respond to these issues as a collective.
Additional speaker, The Honorable Mr. Julio Cesar Cleto Cobos, President of the Honorable Senate of Argentina, gave the last presentation for the session. In his speech, the presenter mentioned that bilateral efforts between nations, treaty between banks have been important in the area of international coordination. He expressed his beliefs that these efforts have made positive results. The drop in asset value in global economy came as a shock to many nations. However, the global economy is showing a faster recovery than expected. Although the pace of recovery differs between nations, the speaker said, it is still a recovery and it shows in the recovery in asset value. This pace difference in economic recovery is the reason why the international coordination is necessary in global economic growth. Mr. Cobos added that the world is at a juncture in terms of international relations. The speaker explained that this is because of the link between countries has become stronger and complex. It also means that issues in one country are no longer limited to its own boundaries. Another point the speaker addressed was the financial market. He suggested that the international community will have to develop this sector together. One of the areas that need to be addressed is coming to an agreement on legal systems for the financial market. Also, an international organization dedicated to such legal systems will be needed. Another point he emphasized was that the international community needs to coordinate not only the monetary policies, but also the fiscal policies. And he suggested that the countries that are impacted the most can be helped to recovery quickly. Third, a common policy to manage national debts has to be addressed. Last but not least, the international society must work together for the advancement of major markets such as food and commodities. The speaker explained the reason for this is that the social
and political ripple effect of such commodities is grand. In order to resolve the tension between nations that rise in the face of these challenges, the role of international organizations is important. Therefore, the speaker emphasized, the role of inter-parliamentary cooperation in creating a framework of international law and coordination to
enhance the quality of life of the people of its countries is important.
The Chair declared the session adjourned and noticed that the sixth session will meet at 11:00.
VII. Session VI-“Post-financial crisis international coordination towards shared growth and the role of parliament”
The last session was chaired by His Excellency Mr. Jean-Léonce DUPONT, Vice President of the Senate of France.
The first presentation was given by Her Excellency Ms. Rodi KRATSA TSAGAROPOULOU, Vice President of the European Parliament.
She noted that the issues discussed over the sessions were about expectations that the world had towards the participating parliaments, and we had to think about the impact of our policies on the entire world to overcome the financial crisis. In that line, she underscored that the EU Parliament, based on the Lisbon Treaty, had strengthened its supervisory role to create market stability, thus responding effectively and preventively to financial crisis.
She noted that the EU had always consider joint growth of all 20 member states and put coordination at the forefront in its work including budget. The EU was intended to help member states in need with an innovative and coordinated mechanism. Part of the mechanism was a self scrutiny system which was required to assess when there was a grave mistake, especially by financial rating companies because they had such a great influence on the overall economy in the region.
She noted that in a more complicated global economy, coordination at the international level should also be in place to overcome the current economic crisis and the EU also wanted to share coordination experiences, which had been based on common values of the member states, in the G20 framework.
She highlighted the type of growth, which was a comprehensive growth, stated in the Joint Communiqué as a way to achieve a common prosperity. In the meantime, she said that the parliamentarians should be interested in such issues as actual needs of their people and
environmental protection, which had been priority of the EU for a long time and reflected in every treaty among the EU member countries.
She underscored moral and transparency as a means to earn trust of the people and their understanding about government priority. Lastly, she called on support for the Mediterranean countries in financial difficulties. Noting ongoing process to enact laws with respect to the support at the EU Parliament, she wished to see the same in the G-20 framework.
The second presenter in the session was His Excellency Mr. Abdelaziz ZIARI, President of the Peoples‟ National Assembly of Algeria.
At the beginning of his remarks, he mentioned the dramatically strengthened relations between Korea and Algeria.
He pointed out theme “Development and growth for common prosperity” was not only about economy but also about morality and security, which should be convinced by all the political players, governments and international financial institutions.
He underlined that growing inequalities between emerging countries and the vast majority of developing countries were likely to constitute a big threat to stability, international peace and security.
He noted that countries of the Southern bank of the Mediterranean, including Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya were to various extents undergoing at present several economic and social changes of a great complexity.
He introduced Algeria‟s efforts to work and prosper together with its neighboring countries through various projects like gas pipeline and highway building as well as economic integration.
He greeted the members of the European Union presented in this consultation and drew their attention on the need for a rigorous rethinking of their relations with the countries of the Maghreb as a growing market for European products with a high added value and a supplier of primary products with low technological components.
He noted some kind of indecency, due probably to the ignorance of realities in being enthusiastic about the democratic revolutions in the countries of the Southern bank of the Mediterranean while at same time being concerned about the consequences of illegal immigration, trans-border delinquency and terrorism and abstaining from formulating an overall approach similar to the one that was set up immediately after the fall of the Berlin wall.
In the connection, he concluded his presentation by asking the EU that which political, economic,
moral or cultural explanation should be retained.
The last presenter for the session was the Honorable Yohah MARTIN, Senator of Canada.
She expressed her distinct pleasure to see an initiative that began in Ottawa in September of last year, on the occasion of the inaugural G20 Speakers‟ Consultation, continued in Seoul.
She was certain that our respective leaders would continue to take the required action that would restore and sustain economies. At the same time, she expressed her conviction of the crucial role that parliaments could play in ensuring that the international coordination required to bring us to shared growth and stability would take hold.
Highlighting the results of the G-20 Summit in Seoul and an IMF report on world economic outlook, she expected that meetings of the leaders, finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 nations would continue to represent an important vehicle in which to share best practices and to identify potential avenues of collaboration and coordination, which must be consistent and sustainable so as to ensure continued advancement.
She underlined that the temptation to diverge from global solutions into uncoordinated actions because uncoordinated policy actions would only lead to worse outcomes for all. In this realm, she recognized a valuable contribution that could be made by legislators such as ensuring that governments followed through on their commitments, and that those measures pursued continued to be coordinated with other countries.
She urged to participating parliaments to make the best use of the opportunity like the G-20 Speakers‟ Consultation to share information and best practices on policies designed to support economic growth and create high-quality jobs to help restore global economic stability and to contribute to greater levels of prosperity for all worldwide.
After all the three presentations, the floor was open to comments.
The Honorable Dr. Muhammad Hidayat NUR WAHID, Chairperson of Committee for Inter Parliamentary Cooperation was called to give his comment.
He introduced efforts made in the parliament of Indonesia to draft laws on the nation‟s economy, financial safety net, financial authority, social security. He confirmed the significance of inter parliamentary collaboration in consideration of different conditions of each country at bilateral, national and international levels including the G-20. He said that through the efforts, parliamentarians would gain people‟s trust and would play a crucial role in practicing policies.
The next comment was made by the Honorable LEE Yong Kyung, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
He pointed out that we were still in uncertainties because of expansionary economic policy which could lead to bubbles in the economy, and income disparity between the haves and have-nots was widening.
Noting the increasing debts in the governments and in the private sector, which served as a barrier to revitalizing the world economy, he highlighted the role of parliaments to monitor the government policies.
He said that Mr. Cobos of Argentina rightly pointed out that the issue of national debts and fiscal soundness were not issues of individual countries, but issues that required international discussions. He underscored that the significance of financial soundness in households and governments to the national economy could not be over-exaggerated at all.
In the context, he noted Republic of Korea‟s National Finance Act in 2006 subsequent efforts made by the government to strengthen the nation‟s fiscal soundness.
He expected that the meeting would be the venue for information sharing on each country‟s fiscal status and discussions to devise guidelines and common measures to improve national fiscal policies. He also hoped that the meeting would help building mutual trust amongst participating countries and be developed into a more productive and meaningful gathering for communications between participants.
Lastly, the floor was taken by His Excellency Sr. D. Francisco Javier ROJO García, President of the Senate of Spain.
He stated that to reflect the new economic reality, a stronger inter-parliamentary coalition was needed.
Noting that each country was making efforts to reform financial institutions, he said that parliaments must play a role it was supposed to take in the process such as coordinating policies to buffer various impacts. He explained that Spain was facing challenges of national debt and suffered a rumor about a fiscal crisis, the government took on fiscal structure reform covering all financial institutions.
He emphasized that the G-20 was not a forum for networking but a means to look for common policy measures to achieve common goals of participating parliaments. In that regard, he hoped
that the Consultation would be developed into a larger forum that could enhance the role of parliamentarians.
The Chair concluded the last session of the Consultation and welcomed His Excellency PARK Hee Tae, Speaker of the National Assembly to the Chair‟s seat so that the meeting can proceed into the closing ceremony.
Speaker Park acclaimed the vigorous deliberations on world peace, terrorism, development and post financial crisis, and other agenda for the last two days.
Noting that there were 25 presentations and numerous comments, he informed the floor that a draft of Joint Communiqué containing the outcome of the Consultation was put in front of the delegates.
After explaining some major ideas in the Communiqué, he asked the floor whether we were ready to adopt the document as it was.
Delegates adopted the Joint Communiqué unanimously with giving each other a big round of applause. The adopted Joint Communiqué is read as follows:
G20 Seoul Speakers‟ Consultation Joint Communiqué
A Safe World, A Better Future: A Promise for the Next Generation
Seoul, Korea
May 18-20, 2011
We, the speakers of the G20 Parliaments, have gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from May 18 to 20, 2011 under the theme of “Development and Growth for Common Prosperity,” in the recognition that it is our common responsibility to seek a common approach toward shared growth in which all of humankind can lead prosperous lives and to secure the safety of the global community.
Today, humanity faces risks both diverse and complex, including economic crisis and its social consequences, natural disasters, nuclear accidents, climate change, terrorism, transnational organized crime and other humanitarian concerns. Stronger cooperation among G20 countries is imperative in order to adequately respond to challenges to social and economic development, global safety and our common prosperity.
We are witnessing a rising frequency of natural disasters, which are, together with the consequences of climate change, becoming a growing threat to the safety of the world and there is a need to establish a collective system of disaster prevention and relief efforts.
The recent accident at a nuclear power station in Japan, which was caused by the unprecedented earthquake-born tsunami, calls on the international community to re examine existing nuclear safety standards. Parliaments of G20 countries should make efforts to focus on issues of nuclear safety regulations with a view to achieving highest standards possible and strengthen cooperation on nuclear safety, information sharing, capacity building, and emergency systems.
We recognize that addressing the challenges of climate change is an urgent priority for all countries, and we urge the international community to actively participate and conclude, at the earliest possible date, the United Nations climate change negotiation currently under way, reinforcing the principles agreed at the 2010 UN Climate Change Summit in Cancun, Mexico. In addition, we share the understanding that the international community should be more active in developing new and renewable forms of energy, which will help resolve issues related to climate change, and providing technological and financial assistance to least developed countries.
Terrorism is a grave crime that violates a human being‟s most fundamental right to life, and we condemn all forms of terrorism, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes. We encourage international coordination efforts against terrorism and new threats to security, including piracy, based on a global consensus on the principles and mechanisms of the United Nations. Additionally, we anticipate that the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, should produce recommendations that inter alia contribute to existing international measures in preventing the acquisition of nuclear materials by terrorist organizations.
Conflicts still prevalent in different parts of the world present a significant threat to world peace. We recognize the importance of the role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and parliamentary diplomacy to contribute to global peace and stability.
We welcome the “Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth” and “Multi-Year Action Plan on Development” endorsed by the G20 Seoul Summit, and believe that the
development commitment of the G20 will be duly actioned. In addition, we call for comprehensive support for the G20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth and the facilitation of knowledge sharing among countries so that the diverse development experiences will be shared with the world‟s least-developed countries.
We also recognize that the development gap is one of the sources of global imbalances and that in the aftermath of the recent global financial crisis, the global economy should move toward a “shared growth for humanity”. We also call for the development of preventive mechanisms against future contingencies.
In order to effectively respond to the diverse and complex crises that humanity faces today, such as the increase of poverty and unemployment, resulting from the recent economic and financial crises, countries should go beyond individual risk management and strengthen international cooperation and coordination on a regional and global scale. We encourage the ongoing discussions at the G20, the Financial Stability Board and the Bank for International Settlements, and the swift and thorough implementation of Basel III.
We believe that the G20 Seoul Speakers‟ Consultation, which succeeded the G20 Speakers‟ Consultation held in Ottawa, Canada, last year, provides new momentum for Parliaments representing both advanced and developing countries to accumulate wisdom, to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights and enhance cooperation on various pending global issues in the international community and agree that we will continue to meet in the future.
We express our appreciation to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea for graciously hosting the G20 Seoul Speakers‟ Consultation 2011, and welcome the hosting of the next Consultation in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
After adopting the Communiqué, Speaker Park invited His Excellency Mr. Abdullah AL SHEIKH, President of Shura Council of Saudi Arabia to take the floor as the head of delegation from the next host country.
President Al Sheikh thanked the National Assembly of the Korea for hosting the Consultation successfully and hoped to see all the delegates again in Saudi Arabia in 2012. He promised that the Saudi parliament would exert all efforts to make the next Consultation a success as well as a pleasurable and beneficial to all participants. He also expressed his appreciation to France for
supporting his parliament‟s hosting of the next meeting.
Then, Speaker Park acknowledged the hard works of the Drafting Committee and the Honorable PARK Jin of the Korean National Assembly who chaired the committee meeting. The floor complimented Rep. Park and the committee with a big round of applause.
Hoping that the next Consultation would be more fruitful based on the results made in this Consultation, and efforts to make a safer and better future would be continued, Speaker Park declared the Consultation officially closed.
