Asia-Pacific-Conference
Expert meeting of the second Asia-Pacific Conference on Housing and Urban Development opened in Tehran on Monday.

The expert meeting will draw up agenda for the the ministerial conference.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mohammad Saeedi-Kya delivered inaugural speech to the conference.

Saeedi-Kya said: "The regional nations deserve to benefit from global economy, but, they are suffering from poverty and inequality." Referring to the conference on the theme of 'sustainable urban development', Saeedi-Kya said that it is scheduled to take effective steps towards the objectives of attaining urbanization strategy adopted at the first Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development held in New Delhi, India, on May 11-14 in 2006.

Due to considerable and dramatic growth in regional countries' economy which affected urban development, the Iranian minister said that the conference has a focus on examining the urbanization problems and finding effective solutions for them.

The APMCHUD is to adopt techniques for sustainable urban development within the framework of Millennium Development Goals, examining the ways to block poverty especially in vicinities of the metropolis cities and the suburbs which need regional and
international cooperation.

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development at expert level will continue until arrival of ministers from Asia-Pacific countries who are expected to attend the conference on May 14.

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