(VNF) - Vice Chairman of the Commission for External Relations of the Party’s Central Committee Tran Dac Loi represented Vietnam at the 28^th Standing Committee Meetings of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (RoK) from July 7^th-9^th.

Vice Chairman of the Commission for External Relations of the Party’s Central Committee Tran Dac Loi.

Loi also led the Vietnamese delegation to the third Meeting of the ICAPP Media Forum and the first Meeting of Asia-Europe Political Forum (AEPF) held alongside the ICAPP Standing Committee meetings.

At the meetings, political leaders and representatives from Asian and European countries discussed global and regional issues, focusing talks on Asia-Europe connectivity, climate change and populism and the role of the media in politics.

They underscored the importance of enhanced cooperation between countries and political parties to cope with common challenges, particularly terrorism, conflicts, poverty and climate change, for peace, stability, prosperity and sustainable development.

The 3^rd Meeting of the ICAPP Media Forum had two central themes. The first theme was the “Role of Media in Political Democratization” with the recent experience in Korea, where the media played a great role in the political change. The second one was the “Role of Media in Building an Asian Community”, on the basis of the previous discussion on “Cooperation to Promote One Asia” with view to enhancing democratic values, dealing with challenges such as terrorism, poverty and environmental degradation, whilst simultaneously promoting communication, interaction and cooperation between political parties and media in the region.

At 3^rd meeting of ICAPP Media Forum in RoK.

The ICAPP Media Forum and Asia-Europe Political Forum adopted joint declarations while the ICAPP Standing Committee approved its working programmes and elected members for the committee.

The Vietnamese delegation took the occasion to meet with representatives from other parties and senior officials at the RoK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and politicians from the Democratic Party of Korea and Liberty Korea Party to discuss ways to improve Vietnam-RoK cooperation this year, with the two countries celebrating 25 years of diplomatic ties.

Since its inaugural meeting in Manila in September 2000, the ICAPP has grown steadily in both membership and influence. At first, few people thought that it would be possible to bring together competing governing, opposition and independent political parties in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, Middle East and Oceania. But the meetings have been visionary, cordial, constructive and successful.

Simply by bringing together Asia's political leaders in fraternal assemblies regularly, the ICAPP has become a positive force for mutual understanding among Asian countries and peoples. And now more than 300 political parties in the region with perse political and ideological backgrounds are eligible to participate in ICAPP activities./.

At the first Meeting of Asia-Europe Political Forum.

Closing Remarks of the 3^rd Meeting of ICAPP Media Forum by Huy Vannak, President of the Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia (UJFC), Vice-Chairman of ICAPP Media Forum, Seoul, 7^th July 2017 on ‘Role of Media in Promoting Democracy and Building Asian Community’.

Delegates pose for a photo at the 3^rd Meeting of ICAPP Media Forum.

Compiled by VNF