Vietnam to host ASEP meeting

Vietnam to host ASEP meeting

VIETNAM: Parliamentarians from Asia and Europe will meet on March 25 in Vietnam's former imperial capital of Hue for two days of talks ahead of October's Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi.

The third Asia-Europe Parliamentary Meeting (ASEP) is a forum for deputies from the two regions "to participate in the ASEM process and promote their external activities", Vietnam's National Assembly said on Friday in a statement.

"Direct contacts and dialog through ASEP will help deepen mutual understanding and economic and political relations among ASEM countries in general and between Vietnam and other countries in particular," it said.

The Vietnamese parliament said holding the meeting ahead of ASEM "will demonstrate the support of parliamentary diplomacy to intergovernmental organizations".

The two-day ASEM summit is due to take place from Oct. 8, but it has been put in jeopardy as a result of a dispute between European Union member countries and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

ASEAN wants its newer members -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- to be included in the biennial summit in return for the participation of the 10 European Union candidate countries, who officially join the bloc in May. -- AFP