Standing Committee Members Engage with Liaoning Province Counterparts

“The very fact that you have travelled here to meet with us today re-emphasises the growing bond between our two Parliaments,” said chairperson of the Standing Committee on Social Welfare and Assistant Minister for Agriculture Viam Pillay.

Members of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs engaged with their counterparts from the Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress in China on Thursday.

This was part of ongoing efforts to further enhance friendly bilateral Parliamentary exchanges between the two countries.

The visit followed a study tour from the Fijian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Affairs to China in August, last year where the Members travelled to Liaoning Province to observe their best practices in terms of the implementation of their Heritage Law and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law.

The study tour was mainly focused on assisting the committee with compiling a detailed report about Fiji’s Heritage Bill No. 10 of 2016 and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill No. 12 of 2016 which the Members would present to Parliament during the next sitting in February, 2018.

In welcoming the Chinese delegation on behalf of the Speaker DrJiko Luveni, the Deputy Speaker Ruveni Nadalo acknowledged the healthy relationship between the two committees. Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs and Assistant Minister for Agriculture Viam Pillay also welcomed the delegation and acknowledged the friendly partnership shared by the two Standing Committees.

“We look forward to this partnership developing in the future,” Mr Pillay said.

“The very fact that you have travelled here to meet with us today re-emphasises the growing bond between our two Parliaments beginning from last year when we travelled to China to your province to study and observe how China implements its laws on the two main areas concerning Heritage and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “We convey our sincere gratitude to the Liaoning Province People’s Congress for the support rendered to the Committee last year.” Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress Vice chairperson Zhou Zhongxuan thanked the Fijian Parliament for its continued cooperation, adding they were always ready to assist Fiji in whichever way they could. MrZhou said they were willing to accommodate the committee in future exchange programmes. Source: Parliament of Fiji

Photo: Parliament of Fiji Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress in China, Zhou Zhongxuan (middle) delivering his remarks during the meeting on November 9, 2017.

Photo: Parliament of Fiji Members of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs (from left) Ruveni Nadalo and Anare Vadei with the Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress Vice Chairman, Zhou Zhongxuan in Parliament on November 9, 2017.

Photo: Parliament of Fiji Standing Committee on Social Affairs members (from left) Salote Radrodro, Veena Bhatnagar and committee chairperson Viam Pillay on November 9, 2017.