March 27, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1428

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ISLAMABAD March 26: The two-day third Asia and India Regions Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (CPA) conference opened here on Monday to discuss greater cooperation among the member countries’ parliamentarians in poverty alleviation, dispute resolution and confidence building.

A total of 125 delegates from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, including 72 from India alone, are participating in the conference which will also discuss knowledge sharing and networking among the regional parliamentarians.

Pakistan is represented by 29 delegates led by chairman Senate Mohammadmian Soomro.

Speaking as chief guest, Mr Soomro expressed optimism that the parliamentarians could play a key role in bringing stability in the region which was vital for prosperity and poverty reduction.

He hoped that the efforts being made for poverty reduction, normalisation and confidence building would be of great help in resolution of Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.

He urged the parliamentarians to work in close collaboration for devising and implementing pro-poor programmes with a view to eradicate poverty.

The parliamentarians, he said, ought to address the challenge to build an inclusive system of governance that would facilitate equitable growth, mitigate poverty and empower the poor to enable them to participate in the growth process.

Involving the elected representatives in poverty reduction is necessary for the sustainability of the process.

He said parliamentarians must work in unison with their governments and other development partners to provide policy guidance.

He underscored the role of information and communication technologies and its impact on overall governance of a country.

Speaking on the occasion, newly-appointed secretary-general of the CPA, Dr William Shija, and chairman of the executive committee and speaker of West Bengal Assembly of India, Hashim Abdul Halim underlined the need for close cooperation among the regional countries to expedite efforts for poverty eradication and improvement in communication network for speedy development.