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Minutes
of the Third Meeting of the Bureau of the Asia Pacific Ministers’ Conference
on Housing and Urban Development
Date
: 3rd
February, 2008
Participants
:
Honourable
Kumari Selja
Chairperson,
Bureau of APMCHUD and
Minister
for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
Republic
of India
Honourable
Manoucher Kajeh Dalouee
Vice
Minister for Housing and Urban Development
Islamic
Republic of Iran
HE
Ahamed Al-Mufleh,
Ambassador
Counsellor
Counsellor
Dr
Azer Khanralow,
Agency for Emergency Operations
Republic
of Azerbaijan
Mr.
Sunil Kumar Singh
Joint
Secretary (Housing) Govt. of India and
Chief
Coordinator, Bureau of APMCHUD
Representative from UN-HABITAT
Mr.
Markandey Rai
Coordinator,
Global Parliamentarians
UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Government
of the Islamic Republic of Iran:
Mr.
Alehabib – DG – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr.
Sadegh Sadeghpur – International Affairs Department - MHUD
Mr.
Farjami - Deputy Minister – MHUD
Mr.
Mousavi – Deputy Minister – MHUD
Dr.
Fatemi Aghda – President of BHRC
Mr.
Hashemi – Deputy Minister – Ministry of Interior
Mr.
Rashidipour- DG – MHUD
Mr.
Rostami – Dep. DG – MHUD
Mr.
Nader Jafari – DG – MHUD
Mrs.
Mohammadzadeh - International Affairs Department – MHUD
Mrs.
Amani – Tehran Conference secretariat
Mr.
Babak Pirouz - Tehran Conference secretariat
Mrs.
Amini Jadid - Tehran Conference
secretariat
Mr.
Khansari - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Government
of India:
Mr.
Manbir Singh, Ambassador of India to Iran, Tehran
Mr.
KL Dhingra, CMD, Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO)
Mr.
Manoj Aggarwal, PS to Hon’ble Minister
Dr.
P Jayapal, Executive Director, HUDCO
Mr.
Rajesh Goel, Deputy Chief, HUDCO
Welcoming
the members to the 3rd meeting of the Bureau of the APMCHUD, the
Chief Coordinator indicated that this meeting is being held at Tehran in the
light of the specific decision of the Bureau in its 2nd meeting to
have a specific focus on the preparations for the forthcoming APMCHUD conference
in Tehran.
The
Hon’ble Chairperson of the Bureau Kumari Selja expressed
her gratitude to H.E. Mr Mohd Saidi Kia, Hon’ble Minister for Housing and
Urban Development and HE Mr Manoucher Kajeh Daloui, Vice Minister for Housing
and Urban Development, Islamic Republic of Iran for extending invitation to the
Bureau to hold its 3rd meeting in the historic city of Tehran. On
behalf of the Bureau members, she conveyed her sincere appreciation for the
personal interest taken by the Hon’ble Ministers from Iran for the hospitality
and kind courtesies extended to the Bureau members and for facilitating holding
of this meeting in a congenial and pleasant atmosphere.
Recalling
that the Bureau had, in its Second meeting held on 27th October 2007
at Amman had specifically desired the Third meeting to extend a special focus on
the preparations for the forthcoming Second Conference of the APMCHUD, scheduled
at this same city in May 2008, the Chairperson indicated that this meeting is
being held here to have an intense review and discuss the activities to be taken
up to ensure that the second Conference is a grand success.
The
Chairperson highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Executive
Secretariat of the Bureau subsequent to the Second meeting of the Bureau at
Amman. She specifically highlighted the improvements undertaken in the web- site
of APMCHUD in line with the suggestions given during the launch of the web site
at Amman. The chairperson further
informed the Bureau that in pursuance of the decision of the APMCHUD to urge all
the member countries to establish a coordination committee at the their national
level, to mainstream issues of housing and urban development, she had written to
all the countries and expressed her happiness on the positive response received
from a number of countries such as Maldives, Mongolia etc. She urged all the
other member countries as well, for expediting the process of setting up this
important pre-requisite that would help us to address the critical issues in a
focussed manner.
The
chairperson further expressed her appreciation of the significant support being
extended by the representatives of the Missions/Embassies of the Member
countries of the Bureau at Delhi for effectively facilitating in the
coordination of Bureau’s activities.
The
Hon’ble Vice Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Islamic Republic of
Iran HE Mr Manoucher Kajeh Daloui welcomed the members of the Bureau to Iran. He
conveyed the best wishes on behalf of the Hon’ble minister, Mr. Mohammed
Saeedi Kia, who could not personally participate as he had to undergo an
operation and was recovering. He expressed his appreciation of the significant
initiatives being taken by the Chairperson in furthering the agenda of APMCHUD.
He also thanked the Bureau for holding this meeting at Tehran as this would be
extremely helpful for the Government of Iran in receiving appropriate guidance
and support in the successful organisation of the 2nd Conference of
APMCHUD.
He briefly explained the steps taken for the successful organisation of the 2nd conference of APMCHUD and expressed that for the success of the event, the continued support of the Bureau members, the Secretariat and the UN-Habitat would be absolutely essential. He emphasised that the forthcoming conference would contribute significantly towards forwarding the ambitious agenda of APMCHUD agreed upon in the Delhi Declaration.
After
the brief remarks by the dignitaries, the agenda items were taken up for
discussion.
Item No. 1:
Confirmation of the Minutes of the Second Meeting of the Bureau of the Asia
Pacific Ministers Conference on Housing and Urban Development held at Jordan on
27th October, 2007.
The
Chief Coordinator indicated that the minutes of the 2nd meeting of
the Bureau were circulated to the members and also the same were posted on the
web-site of APMCHUD. He further informed that no comments have been received and
accordingly placed the same for consideration of ratification.
In
regard to the setting up of the permanent executive secretariat, the
representative from China indicated that they are of the opinion that the issue
of setting up of the permanent executive secretariat may require consideration
at a wider level. He further indicated that the roles of a regular set up for
the APMCHUD need to be considered in the light of the existence of specialized
bodies on infrastructure development for the Asia Pacific region.
Responding
to the same, the Chief Coordinator indicated that establishment of a permanent
Secretariat of the Bureau was a mandate under the 'Delhi declaration' vide its
clauses 15 which requires the Bureau to convene within four months ‘to
identify the modalities of establishing the Secretariat and other organs.
In the meantime, an Interim Secretariat may be established in India as
soon as possible’. Further vide Clause 16 it was further desired that 'upon
finalization of the modalities of establishment of the Secretariat and other
organ the same may be put as an Appendix to the Delhi Declaration.'
Further,
the suggestion for setting up of a permanent secretariat in Delhi, where an
interim secretariat had already been set up in pursuance of the Delhi
Declaration, had come up in the first meeting of the Bureau at Nairobi. This
meeting was participated by H.E. Mohammad Saeidi Kia, Minister of Housing &
Urban Development, Islamic Republic of Iran , H.E. Ms. Fu Wenjuan, Vice
Minister, Ministry of Construction, Peoples Republic of China, H.E Eng. Shehadah
Abdallah Abu Hdaib, Director General, Housing and Urban Development Corporation,
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, besides India. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea
did not participate in the meeting. During
the meeting, the Minister from Iran proposed that the Permanent Secretariat be
set up at New Delhi which was duly supported by Jordan. However, the Vice
Minister from China indicated that they would like to provide their views
shortly, and however, they would definitely like to go along with the views of
the other Bureau members in this regard. As agreed in the meeting the countries
were to send their comments on the issue, if any. The minutes were forwarded to
the members through mail, email and as well through their local missions in
Delhi. However no comments were received from any of the members. The
formalization of the permanent executive secretariat was a follow up of the same
in the subsequent meeting at Amman, Jordan, during 27-28th October, 2007. The
meeting was participated by HE Husni Abu Ghaida, Minister of Public Works and
Housing, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, HE Manoucher Kajeh Dalloui, Vice
Minister for Housing and Cities, Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Dato’ Hasnudin
Hamzah, Ambassador of Malaysia to Jordan and Mr. Kanan Murtuzov, First
Secretary, Embassy of Republic of Azerbaijan at Jordan, besides India. China and
Papua New Guinea did not participate in the 2nd meeting. The minutes were also
posted on the website besides being forwarded to the members through mail, email
and as well through their local missions in Delhi. No comments were received
from any member country at this stage as well.
Reacting
to the issue, the representative of UN-HABITAT indicated that the item under
discussion was the ratification of the minutes of the discussions held in the
meeting at Amman, and supported ratification of the minutes.
The
Chairperson invited the members for any other comments. There being no other
comments, the Bureau agreed to approve the item. It was also decided to record
the comments of the representative from China.
Item No. 2:
Action taken report on the decisions of the Bureau of APMCHUD in its
Second meeting.
The
Chief Coordinator informed the Bureau of the actions taken pursuant to the
decisions taken by the Bureau in its 2nd Meeting held at Amman,
Jordan on October 27, 2007.
The
Chief Coordinator indicated that as part of the Agenda Item No. 3 on
‘Establishment of the Secretariat for the Bureau of the APMCHUD and Action
Plan for the same’, the Bureau had decided to add two additional
responsibilities to the Executive Secretariat, and accordingly the same has been
affected. Further, in
regard to the ‘time frames’ for the various actions by the Bureau, it was
indicated that the time frame would be finalized for consideration in the next
meeting of the Bureau. In regard to
the sources of finance for the Permanent Secretariat of the Bureau, the Chief
Coordinator indicated that a proposal shall be put up after the details are
collected in regard to various options etc.
It was also highlighted by the Chief Coordinator that as decided in the 2nd
Bureau meeting, the minutes of various Bureau meetings has been posted on the
website and a communication has also been addressed to all member countries
seeking their support and contribution for enriching the website. The Bureau noted the above actions taken.
In
regard to the various items discussed in the 2nd meeting under Item
No. 4 ‘Any other Items with the Permission of the Chair’, the Chief
Coordinator presented the status as under:
In
regard to facilitating the Government of Iran in holding the 2nd
Conference of APMCHUD at Tehran, Iran by the Bureau Secretariat by providing the
necessary available information to the organizers, the Chief Coordinator
indicated that the same have already been provided and assured any further
assistance from the Bureau, as may be required in this regard.
In
respect of holding of PREPCOM by APMCHUD and UN-ESCAP before the next World
Urban Forum, as proposed by the UN-ESCAP, the Chief Coordinator indicated that
as decided by the Bureau, a communication has been sent to UNESCAP for
coordinating the same with the Government of Iran. The Chairperson requested UNHABITAT to coordinate with
UNESCAP for enabling the Government of Iran to take further necessary action in
regard to hosting of PREPCOM.
The
Bureau noted the above actions taken on the decisions of the Bureau in its 2nd
meeting held at Amman.
Item No.3: Status
on seeking
support from the multi-lateral Institutions for the APMCHUD Initiative – a
report
The
Chief Coordinator informed the Bureau that in continuation of the communication
addressed by the Chairperson seeking the support of multi-lateral Institutions,
a meeting was organized by the Executive Secretariat of the Bureau with the
local representatives of various multi-lateral Institutions at Delhi. It was
further indicated that the efforts would be continued on a sustained basis.
The
Bureau noted the above.
Item No.
4: Status of preparations for
the 2nd Conference of APMCHUD at Tehran
The
Chief Coordinator indicated that the focus of this meeting is on the
preparations for the 2nd Conference of APMCHUD scheduled to be held
in Tehran. He invited the Hon’ble
Minister from Iran to present the Agenda Item to the Bureau.
H.E.
Mr. Manoucher Kajeh Dalloui, the Hon’ble Vice Minister for Housing & Urban
Development, Islamic Republic of Iran, thanked the Bureau for extending a
special focus towards organizing the 2nd Conference in a successful
manner. The Hon’ble Minister made
a detailed presentation to the Bureau.
He
indicated that the Government of Iran has established the Second
Conference Steering Committee
and based on consultations with the Bureau
of Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference
and UN-HABITAT and also in view of the fact that the Conference outcomes are to
be presented in the Fourth World Urban Forum scheduled to be held in Nanjing, China
in October 2008, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of the Islamic
Republic of Iran has selected 12-14 May 2008 as the date to hold the second
conference.
The
Hon’ble Minister further briefed about the status of Actions taken for the
Second APMCHUD. It was indicated
that the Venue for the Conference will be the IRIB International Conference
Center and Hamayesh Sazan-e Emrooz, a private firm has been engaged as in-charge
of implementation. It was further
indicated that an exhibition on Investment Opportunities in the Iranian Housing
& Construction Sector would also be held on the sidelines of the Conference.
Indicating
that an exclusive website (www.apmc-housing.ir)
has been created for the 2nd APMCHUD Conference, the Hon’ble
Minister mentioned that the same is being regularly updated.
The organizers have also established regular contacts with the
Secretariats of UN-HABITAT and APMCHUD in New Delhi.
The
conference would commence with an opening ceremony followed by discussions in
the five identified Thematic Working
Groups which will deliberate for the first two days of the Conference. The final
day will be participated by the Honorable Ministers and high level officials who
will approve the Declaration of Tehran Conference and the Conference will
conclude with statements by His Excellency
Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The
Hon’ble Minister further indicated that the Steering Committee has approved
the main theme for the Second Conference as ‘Sustainable Urban Development: Associating Growth with Equity and Identity’.
It was highlighted that the Steering Committee has attempted to maintain
continuity in the Thematic Working Groups of the New Delhi Conference even while
adding a new working group on Natural Disasters, which is a shared and common
issue across the Asia- Pacific Region, as the Fifth Thematic Working Group.
The
Hon’ble Minister informed that five Thematic
Groups have been constituted, namely, Urban and Rural Planning and
Management; Upgrading of Slums and Informal Settlements; Delivery of MDGs for
Water and Wastewater; Financing Sustainable Housing: Enhancing, Affordability
and Quality of Low-Income Housing; and Urban Development with a Focus on
Natural Disasters
The
Hon’ble Minister requested the Heads of each working group to give a
presentation on the topics to be covered under each working group.
Thereafter, respective Chairmen of the five Working Groups presented the
contents/topics of each of the themes. In
regard to Thematic Working Group 1, Urban and Rural Planning and Management, the
topics enlisted cover (i) Urban Planning and Management Process, (ii) Rural
Planning and Management Process,
(iii) Indigenous-Regional Architecture and Urban Development, (iv) Role
of Information & Data Bases in the Improvement & Enhancement of Urban
Projects, and (v) Role of Non-Governmental Sectors' Involvement in the Urban
& Rural Planning & Management.
In
regard to the Thematic Working Group 2, Urban Slums Upgrading, the topics
enlisted cover (i) Provide a supportive environment for the activities of the
informal sector including the micro enterprises within the framework of National
Regulations, (ii) Strengthen the role of gender in the management of local
governments in the development process, especially in slums upgrading projects,
(iii) Encourage and promote people-based and community-based policies &
programs, (iv) Enabling and regularizing informal settlements with an emphasis
on the local communities and a citywide perspective, and (v) Renovation &
Rehabilitation of Urban Dilapidated Fabrics and utilizing the existing
potentials and capacities for endogenous development with a participatory
approach.
In
regard to the Thematic
Working Group 3, Delivery of MDGs for Water and Wastewater, the Topics enlisted
cover (i) Planning for the
expediting and completion of water
supply and distribution systems and the collection and treatment of
rural and urban wastewater; (ii) Optimized
Management of urban water and mobilizing financial resources, (iii) Supporting
research and innovations in the water and wastewater industry, (iv) Role
of women and culture generating within sustainable urban management, and (v)
Urban water management,
informal settlements and neighborhoods
With
regard to Thematic Working Group 4, Financing Sustainable Housing: Enhancing
Affordability and Quality of Low-Income Housing, the topics enlisted cover (i)
Housing Construction and Retrofit
Technology, (ii) Create
a better understanding of urban land dynamics for the development of urban land
market in Asia- Pacific Region, (iii) Low-income and Special groups' Housing,
and (iv) Housing
Finance
In
regard to Thematic Working Group 5, Development of Sustainable Urbanization with
a focus on Natural Disasters, the topics enlisted cover (i)
Prevention of disasters (including planning, urban development, design of
multi-functional spaces, retrofitting, etc.), (ii) Preparedness including social
issues, education and training, elevation of public culture,
and (iii) Reconstruction and
renovation of areas damaged by disasters and accidents
The
Hon’ble Minister further indicated that a report would be finalized after the
conference, the framework of which would cover What
have been done in the sector, lessons learnt, the problems faced by the sector,
the way forward and action plan for the same and mechanism to create a single
and united voice for the countries of the region. He also indicated that
arrangements would be made in the venue for simultaneous translation into
English/Arabic.
The
chairperson thanked and congratulated the Hon’ble Vice Minister, Housing and
Urban Development, Islamic Republic of Iran for the excellent and comprehensive
presentation. She appreciated the
outstanding efforts made by Iran in conceptualizing and comprehending the entire
sequence of this important event in a detailed manner.
The Chairperson assured continued support from the Secretariat and on
behalf of the members of the Bureau for the success of the event. She especially
requested the UNHABITAT to extend all possible help in this regard.
The
representative from UNHABITAT, Dr. Markandey Rai, assured to work
closely with the host country and the Secretariat for providing all
assistance as may be required for the successful conduct of the Event.
He further indicated that this conference is in continuation of the first
APMCHUD Conference at Delhi an action oriented plan need to be evolved which
would facilitate effective implementation of the ‘Delhi Declaration’.
He also opined that it is time that a Trust Fund is created to sustain
the APMCHUD initiatives and take forward. Appreciating
the significant media presence during the Bureau meeting, he emphasized the need
for a major publicity effort for the main conference. He also opined that for effective participation a few least
developed countries may need financial support for participation.
He suggested that similar to participation the Hon’ble President of
Iran in the valedictory function, a suitable dignitary could also be identified
for the opening ceremony of the conference.
The
Hon’ble Minister from Iran sought the support of the members of APMCHUD for
technical support for enriching the documents to be given to the delegates on
various topics to be deliberated in the conference.
The time available being short, he sought technical help from the member
countries, Bureau secretariat and UNHABITAT for identifying technical experts
for various topics and requested specifically UNHABITAT in this regard.
The
Chairperson thanked the UNHABITAT for its commitment to support the APMCHUD
initiatives and assured the organizing committee of the conference, the
Bureau’s support. She informed
that officers from the Executive Secretariat can be deputed to help the Iranian
Government whenever required by them.
She
further requested the organizing committee to hyper-link the conference website
to the main website of APMCHUD (www.apmchud.com)
for a wider dissemination of information on the forthcoming event.
Responding to the same, the Hon’ble Minister from Iran indicated that
the hyperlink could be effected with the APMCHUD website shortly.
The
Chairperson also desired that all the member countries of APMCHUD be requested
to prepare their country reports on actions taken subsequent to the Delhi
Declaration on issues highlighted therein.
The
representative from Jordan thanked the Hon’ble Vice Minister, Housing and
Urban Development, Government of Iran on the comprehensive presentation and
efforts made by the organizing committee in the preparation of conference.
The
representative from Azerbaijan, Dr. Azer Khanrolov, conveyed his appreciation to
the organizing committee for its vision and meticulous planning for conducting
the 2nd conference in a successful manner.
He assured the help of Government of Azerbaijan in the successful conduct
of the event.
The
Hon’ble Minister from Iran welcomed the suggestions from the members of the
Bureau and the Chairperson for the success of the forthcoming conference.
Item
No.5: Any other items with the permission of the Chair.
Ensuring
a larger participation of member countries in the 2nd APMCHUD
Conference at Tehran:
The
Bureau was of the unanimous view that all efforts should be made to ensure a
larger participation at the ministerial
level of the member countries of the APMCHUD.
It was felt that the forthcoming conference is a very important event to
evolve viable mechanisms to implement the objectives of APMCHUD for ensuring
sustained growth of APMCHUD initiatives. The
chairperson requested all the member countries to do their best to ensure the
success of the 2nd conference of AMPCHUD at Tehran.
The
3rd meeting of the Bureau ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.