Addressing the event, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tong Thi Phong, highlighted the meeting’s topical issues of population, climate change, food security and sustainable development which are of the world’s concern.

Phong said that as a tropical Asian country having a coastline of more than 3,000 km, Vietnam is fully aware of the climate change’s impacts on it and other developing countries.

The climate change is attributed to people’s influence to the nature, the increasing environmental pollution and forest destruction, and the excessive population growth, Phong said.

She stressed that each person and country should raise their awareness, sense of cooperation, experience sharing, and mutual assistance in protecting the environment, restraining climate change and population growth.

“ Vietnam has exerted efforts to cope with the issue by promptly ratifying the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol,” the Vietnamese NA Vice Chairwoman said.

“We have drawn up a national target programme in response to climate change and rising sea levels and promulgated the Laws on Environmental Protection and Bio-Diversity. We are also considering to revise the Penal Code with a focus on increasing fines on environmental polluters, and other legal documents to encourage people to get involved in forest protection and development, and apply family planning measures to reduce the pressure of population growth,” Phong said.

She went on to say that the Vietnamese NA and its deputies have showed their strong support to the fight against HIV/AIDS epidemics through passing the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Fight.

At the opening session, the participants also heard speeches by AFPPD President Yasuo Fukuda, Senior Advisor of the UN Population Fund Asia-Pacific Office Garimella Giridhar, and Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation for Southeast Asia Raj Karim.

The meeting, lasting until Dec. 14 will include five sessions with themes on the relations between climate change and population; food security and water resource management; climate change and gender issue; management of health resources and HIV/AIDS; and MPs’ activities with climate change./.(VNA)