ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser Thursday said that sustainable socio-economic development was not possible unless needs of women and youth were met.

He said that connecting women and youth with legislatures through parliamentary forums could result in democratic dividends contributing immensely to the national development . Speaker Asad Qaiser was addressing the concluding session of the 5th CPA Asia Regional Conference held here.

The Speaker stressed upon the Asia Region Commonwealth members states to push their respective governments, through their legislative and oversight role, to utilize the parliamentary foresight of this forum and collaborate on these issues in light of this forum’s deliberations and recommendations.

He said that the theme of the Conference, “Envisioning Parliamentary Paths towards a Diverse and Developed South Asia” had softened the ground for healthy and target oriented debate and invited collective attention to not only our shared problems but also to mutual opportunities faced by South Asia.

The Speaker said that the Parliamentarians during the course of this discourse had brought to the fore all crucial challenges facing the South Asia region and to help set the course of regional, national and provincial action.

He said that the wisdom and foresightedness reflected in the keynotes and interventions of worthy speakers had identified crucial prospects of parliamentary cooperation.

He stressed the need for sustaining this meaningful parliamentary dialogue through regular parliamentary interaction.

He said that this conference was in fact the joint achievement of all the participating Parliaments of the region. He said that he believed that CPA was doing an extremely important job and shall continue to work rigorously towards ensuring meaningful and effective cooperation while strengthening ties among the regional Parliaments.

Complementing the representatives from electronic and print media, he said that they remained keen partners in all events of this conference and provided amicable coverage to the deliberations and decisions taken here. He complimented the National Assembly Secretariat for their efforts in making the conference a success.

Concluding his address, he assured that National Assembly of Pakistan will continue to make coordinated and cohesive efforts to address common regional challenges and strengthen ties between Parliaments to forge strategic partnerships.