ISLAMABAD  -  Senate of Pakistan and House of Representative of Japan agreed to strengthen parliamentary cooperation in the areas of legislation and parliamentary practices to further improve parliamentary performance by sharing experiences.

A statement issued by Senate Secretariat said that a delegation of senior officers of the Senate, led by Secretary Senate Amjed Pervez Malik currently visiting Japan, held meeting with the secretary general of House of Representatives of Japanese Parliament and other high officials of the legislative wings of the parliament of Japan.

The delegation, which also includes Justice (R) Raza Khan, advisor Senate, is on a 4-day visit to study legislative support services of Japanese Parliament. The visit is sponsored by IPU under a MoU signed between Pakistan and the IPU.

During the meeting with Japanese counterpart, the secretary Senate informed about the overall parliamentary system as well as the recent developments. He said that dynamics of functioning of the Parliament was fast changing and requirement of the Parliament in legislation had also increased and there was growing need for dedicated legislative drafting facility within the Parliament. He underscored the need for enhancing capacity of the parliamentary staff through frequent exchanges.

He said that Senate of Pakistan had devised a vibrant plan to improve institutional efficiency and provide excellent services to the members of parliament. The secretary also informed about vision and passion of the new elected leadership in the Senate and National Assembly for enhancing role of parliament in socio-economic development of the country. He gave a detailed overview of the new initiatives introduced in the Senate for enhancing institutional efficiency. 

During the meeting, secretary Senate reiterated the Japanese counterpart to send a delegation for participation in the upcoming meeting of Political Affairs Committee to be held in Gwadar, Pakistan. Both sides exchanged views on a number of issues related to strengthening relationship between the two parliaments.

Japanese Secretary General appreciated new initiatives of the Senate of Pakistan and agreed with the views of the secretary Senate to further improve linkages to achieve excellence.