IPU REGARDS SECRETARIES GENERAL AS VALUABLE COUNTERPARTS

Anders Forsberg, the new President of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP), visited the IPU Headquarters in April 2006, accompanied by Frédéric Slama and Roger Philips, the Co-Secretaries of the ASGP. "It is important that the Secretaries General be more involved during the IPU Assemblies so that we can keep abreast of the development of the IPU, especially now that the IPU is developing its cooperation with the United Nations and the WTO", said Mr. Forsberg.

The ASGP President also mentioned the IPU seminars on specific political topics, which are of great interest to many parliaments and also their Secretaries General. "We have fruitful cooperation with the IPU and I find it very important to strengthen it, for instance by supporting the emerging democracies in different parts of the world. The IPU is asking for specialists or officials from our parliaments and I look forward to deepening the cooperation between our two institutions in that field and others. At our meeting in Nairobi, we will present interesting projects in this area."

Mr. Forsberg also underlined the importance of developing the IPU and the ASGP web sites. "Moreover, we are expecting to take part in the discussions about the development of the IPU and we have had talks with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU - Eurovision), the largest professional association of national broadcasters in the world, which has 74 active Members in 54 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and 48 associate Members in 28 countries".

  Visit the ASGP Website : http://www.asgp.co