Asia`s moments of opportunities must be used wisely and should not be wasted, said Priyo Budi Santoso, Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) here Wednesday when speaking at a session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA).
"If we fail to map out the challenges that Asia is facing today, then `The Asian Century` will not bring any benefit for the welfare of the region`s peoples," Priyo said.
The failure would be more clearly shown if Asian nations were unable to maximize their collaboration potentials to overcome the rising challenges, he said.
Therefore, Priyo asked APA members not only to busy themselves with issuing resolutions and making agreements that were seldom implemented.
"We certainly do not want a situation where the resolutions we have been issuing since 2006 end up as paper tigers, documents full of daring statements and intentions but of little real consequence," he said.
Priyo also said that Asian countries` lawmakers had a great responsibility to translate their resolutions into concrete policies in their respective countries.
Parliaments were supposed to have the authority to supervise, legislate and budget so that their partnership with their governments could be strengthened in the implementation of the numerous resolutions they had adopted at APA meetings.
On the other hand cultural and religious differences among Asian nations should not be an excuse for Asian countries to go their own ways but should be made into a regional force to face global challenges.
"In 2008, APA started out with a declaration supporting the principles of Asian amity and cooperation. This commitment should be embodied in a structured and effective mechanism of cooperation in various fields," Priyo said.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
