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ABU DHABI / WAM
Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), on Wednesday received Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) President, Duarte Pacheco, and Secretary-General, Martin Chungong, at the FNC headquarters.
At the start of the meeting, the FNC Speaker welcomed Pacheco to the UAE, as this is his first visit to the country, pointing to the distinguished relations between the FNC and the IPU. The council was the first parliament in the world to sign a cooperation agreement with IPU in 2014. Several FNC members attended the meeting.
Ghobash emphasised the strong ties and strategic partnership between FNC and IPU, pointing to the important role that IPU plays in achieving development for the countries and peoples of the world, discussing the most important regional and international issues and its contribution to promoting peace and tolerance and supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda.
During the meeting, the FNC and IPU signed an agreement regarding the Council hosting the parliamentary conference of the World Trade Organisation accompanying the organisation’s 13th Ministerial Conference. Pacheco hailed the UAE’s efforts to host the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi and the Parliamentary Conference on the Organisation, which is considered a joint project between the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament, to enhance transparency of the World Trade Organisation.
He also stressed the significance of the role played by parliaments in strengthening relations between the peoples of the world to ensure a better future for humanity. He noted that the role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union has become more important today, given the challenges facing countries.