mseap

Official Doc

Declarations

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SUBJECT SEOUL STATEMENT - 2nd Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries' Parliaments
DATE 2017-12-28
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SeoulStatement_Final.docx

1. We, the leaders of the parliaments of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and the Ambassadors participating on behalf of the parliaments of Belarus, Greece, and Serbia gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea on June 26-28, 2017 for the 2nd Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP), which was held on the initiative of H.E. Chung Sye-kyun, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and H.E. Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, to discuss ways of promoting inter-parliamentary cooperation to contribute to peace, stability, and common prosperity under the theme “Promotion of Inter-parliamentary Cooperation for Common Prosperity in the Eurasian Region.”

 

2. Sharing the view that common prosperity in the Eurasian region can contribute to prosperity in other parts of the world, we agreed to redouble efforts to bolster the roles and functions of parliaments within their mandate and expand inter-parliamentary cooperation in order to contribute to common prosperity in the region and beyond.

 

3. Noting that political, economic, societal and cultural diversity in the Eurasian region can be a driving force behind our common prosperity, supporting 17 sustainable development goals stipulated in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and underlining that their achievement could bring wealth and stability to the region, we agreed to stimulate dialogues and contribute to trust building and mutual understanding.

 

4. Recognizing the significance of the development of the Eurasian region as a community, we pledged to exert joint efforts in terms of legislative support and institutions to promote cooperation in diverse areas of mutual interest for mutual benefit, such as logistics, connectivity, networks, infrastructure, people-to-people exchanges, resources, energy and digital economy with due respect to legislations of each country.

                                                                                               

5. Reaffirming that free trade agreements between countries in the region and bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with regional organizations and groups and other agreements on trade and economic cooperation can contribute to economic prosperity in the Eurasian region and beyond and realizing the importance of complementarity of these Eurasian countries for common prosperity and sustainable development, in this regard we acknowledged the negative effect of barriers between countries as one of the major obstacles for economic cooperation, trade and regional development and agreed upon the need to strengthen the roles of parliaments as well as inter-parliamentary cooperation toward this objective.

 

6. Highlighting the importance of mutually beneficial cooperation and partnership among the states of Eurasia, we agreed to act in favor of dialogue for economic integration processes taking place in different parts of Eurasia.

 

7. Acknowledging the need for parliaments in our region to respond actively to challenges facing the international community, such as international terrorism, violent extremism, drug trafficking, transnational crimes, climate change, environmental degradation, poverty, all forms of inequality, and issues related to refugees, we support the activities of the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union to address global challenges and reiterate the need for our parliaments to take interest and exert joint efforts in this regard.

 

8. Taking note of the discussions held at the 1st and 2nd MSEAP, we agreed to share best practices and achievements, consider signing framework or thematic agreements on inter-parliamentary cooperation, and identify and implement specific programs and projects from the 3rd MSEAP onward as ways to promote cooperation and common prosperity in our region.

 

9. Recognizing the need for sharing information, knowledge and best practices, for those who wish so, on this annual forum to ensure its institutional continuity and promote cooperation among our parliaments, we support the initiative by the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea to create a cyber secretariat in collaboration with participating parliaments. We also encourage working contacts through relevant parliamentary committees and commissions.

 

10. Extending our sincere appreciation to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for the successful organization of the 2nd MSEAP and reaffirming our firm belief in the contribution of the MSEAP to a more prosperous Eurasian region, we agreed to entrust the co-chairs to determine the venue of the 3rd MSEAP by the end of 2017.