BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Asian countries should come to a broader understanding of regional security and extend cooperation to the fields of politics, economy, society, culture, resources and biology, delegates to an international party conference said there Saturday.

  At a sideline workshop of the third International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), Abdullah AL Noman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said that regional security had become highly important to Asian countries.

  In the times of globalization, the world has shrunk into a small village where detrimental elements spread fast and become all the more dangerous to countries, big or small, he said.

  The chief menace is terrorism, the hardest to prevent since it often mingled with drug and ammunition smuggling and organized crimes, said Pashupati Shumshere JBR of the National Democratic Party of Nepal.

  Although some Asian countries have begun multilateral dialogues on security issues through ASEAN Regional Forum and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific, the whole continent has not been included.

  "To counter terrorism, Asian countries had better establish an intelligence sharing system open to all countries on an equal basis," said Pansy Wong of the National Party of New Zealand.

  Given that terrorism is often related to the disparity in economy and religion, Wong suggested Asian countries enhance mutual understanding through cultural and art exchange.

  "The concept of peace and security doesn't mean the absence of warfare only; economic security is our top concern," said Theo L.Sambuaga of Party of the Functional Groups of Indonesia.

  After the 1997 Asia financial crisis, millions of dollars of overseas investment were withdrawn from the then booming country, seriously injuring its economic health. To avoid similar problems,Sambuaga urged Asian countries to enhance capital investment within the continent and reduce their reliance upon capital from the West.

  Suematsu Yoshinori of the Democratic Party of Japan called on Asian political parties to go all out for an Asian Union. "If the European Union could develop euro, why couldn't we have our own single Asian currency?" he asked.

  Roy B. Janis of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle said that maritime rights were extremely important to south Asian countries, as many local people live off the fishing industry. To secure their lifeline, Indonesia has started a joint coastline patrol program with Malaysia and Singapore to crack down on illegal fishing.

  Dey Narendra Nath, secretary of the Central Committee of the India Forward Bloc, stressed the importance of food and environmental security, as these two aspects were closely related to the quality people's daily lives.

  More than 350 delegates of 82 political parties and organizations from 34 countries participated in the conference hosted by the Communist Party of China. The first two ICAPP conferences were held in Manila, the Philippines, in September 2000, and Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2002. 

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