Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

The second meeting of the Youth Wing of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) opened in Baku on August 14 with participation of 50 young politicians from 18 countries.

Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party, member of the ICAPP Standing Committee Ali Ahmadov, Founding Chairman and Co-Chairman of the ICAPP Standing Committee Jose de Venecia, Co-Chairman of the ICAPP Standing Committee and Secretary General Chung Eui-Yong, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence and Defence Production, and Secretary General of the Pakistan Muslim League Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Special Adviser to the Malay Prime Minister for the Northern Region Economic Growth Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Thailand Trade Representative and Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office Nalinee Taveseen attended the event.

Addressing to the meeting Ahmadov said young people should be at the forefront of the struggle against separatism, terrorism and occupation. The youth is the future of every nation and the world in general and one of the major responsibilities of ICAPP is to prepare young people of the member-countries for the future.

"We are proud of our young people and value them as a capital and guarantor of our future," he stressed.

According to Ahmadov, Asia will contribute to the future of the world and young people should evaluate this to create a strong foundation for future development.

"The world is evolving rapidly, but in some regions it is accompanied by the development of poverty and conflicts. Tragedy that occurs in some places has an impact on other places. Therefore, it is important for all peoples to unite to create a bright future for the world," Ahmadov said.

He noted that Azerbaijan is a young and fast-growing country, stressing the important role of the youth in this development.

Informing the participants about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ahmadov said the ongoing conflict still has a negative impact on the lives of many young people.

In his remarks, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim also noted the negative impact of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on young people. "Many young people were killed and it is a great loss for Azerbaijan," he underlined.

He also recalled the recent tragic events which happened in Libya and Egypt following "Arab spring". "We must warn young people from such actions," he said. "These events showed that young people sometimes act rashly when they participate in the actions, which lead to disorders and severe consequences."

According to Shahidan, today's youth are the leaders of the tomorrow and that provides them opportunities for strong and important decisions from the prospect of future leaders.

Special adviser expressed confidence that the Baku meeting will be fruitful.

The gathering mulled expansion of a network of young politicians, who are the members of political parties operating in the Asian region.

The meeting will elect governing structures of the ICAPP Youth Wing. Also, the Baku Declaration of Asian Youth is expected to be adopted at the end.

The International Conference of Asian Political Parties is a forum of political parties of Asia-Oceanian countries, which was launched in Philippines in September 2000. The objectives of the conference are to promote exchange and cooperation between political parties from different countries in the different areas and to enhance mutual understanding and trust among them.