Summary Report of the 10^th Meeting of the ICAPP Standing Committee

The 10^th Meeting of the ICAPP Standing Committee was held in Astana, Kazakhstan during March 27-28, 2009, under the auspices of the People¡¯s Democratic Party ¡°Nur Otan¡± of Kazakhstan.

The following are major agreements and understandings reached at during the Meeting.

1.       The 5^th General Assembly of the ICAPP will be hosted in Astana, Kazakhstan from Thursday, September 24 to Sunday, September 27, 2009, under the main theme of ¡°Towards an Asian Century,¡± by the People¡¯s Democratic Party ¡°Nur Otan¡± of Kazakhstan.

2.       A total of 226 political parties in 45 countries and one territory has been identified as eligible to be invited to the 5^th General Assembly as of March 24, 2009 in accordance with the ICAPP criteria.

3.       The 11^th Meeting of the ICAPP Standing Committee will be held in Astana in September 2009 on the sidelines of the 5^th General Assembly.

4.       The 12^th Meeting of the ICAPP Standing Committee will be jointly hosted in Katmandu, Nepal in February 2010 by the three main political parties in Nepal, i.e. Communist Party(Maoist), Nepali congress and Communist Party(UML).

5.       A joint Session between the ICAPP Standing Committee and the Coordinating Body of the COPPPAL(Permanent Conference of Political Parties in Latin America and the Caribbean) will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentine during July 30 to 31, 2009.

6.       The United Russia Party will positively consider hosting the 13^th Meeting of the ICAPP Standing Committee and a Joint Session between the ICAPP Standing Committee and the Executive Committee of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly(APA) in Moscow, Russia during the 5^th General Assembly of the APA. if it is held in Moscow in late 2010.

7.       The Chinese side will consider hosting a Special ICAPP Workshop on ¡°Fight Against Poverty,¡± which is one of the ICAPP¡¯s priority projects, in China in either May or June 2010.

8.       The Standing Committee Members reconfirmed the resolution adopted at the previous Standing Committee Meeting in Islamabad on ¡°debt-for-equity¡± formula to help ease the financial burden of debt-ridden developing countries in the region and agreed to deliver the same message to the Group of 20 leaders who were going to meet in London in early April 2009.

9.       The Members also welcomed and supported the call by N.U. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on the G-20 leaders to support a $1,000 billion stimulus package for developing countries threatened by the global financial crisis and urged the G-20 leaders not to lose sight of the plight and challenge of the developing countries which are most vulnerable to the crisis and in particular not to resort to protectionism to bolster their own domestic growth.

10.   With regard to the recent announcement of the DPRK to launch a satellite missile, the Members expressed the view that the parties concerned should continue their effort to promote peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the hope that the nuclear issue and other issues on the Korean Peninsula can be successfully dealt with within the framework of the Six Party Talks.

The Meeting was attended by eleven members of the Standing Committee, Secretary General of the ICAPP Secretariat, Delegation from the COPPPAL and other distinguished representatives.