BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Asian political parties should make better use of the Internet for construction and communication,urged participants at the ongoing Third International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) on Saturday.

  As the Internet is developing rapidly in the 21st century, media services as well as people's lives and thoughts have been changed significantly, said Kim Hyong O, of the Grand National Party of the Republic of Korea (ROK). Asian political parties should make full use of the web as an effective way to publicize themselves and serve the people, he said.

  The members of the Grand National Party could discuss and participate in party affairs anytime and anywhere through the Internet, and elections could be held on-line as well, he said.

  One of the major reasons for the party's failure of his country 's 2002 presidential election was its neglect of the Internet, he said.

  During that election, Roh Moo-hyun, now ROK president, received great support from young Internet users. Today, 60 percent of the ROK electorates are Internet users aged between 20 and 30, whose political opinions have great influence on the decisions and policy-making of political parties, said Hahn Hwa Kap, of the Millennium Democratic Party of the ROK.

  Ong Ka Chuan, from the Malaysian Chinese Association, suggested that the ICAPP set up a fixed or alternate secretariat and provide parties' information on the website.

  The current ICAPP, with the theme of "Exchange, Cooperation and Development," is the first hosted by the CPC. The first two ICAPP conferences were held in the Philippines in September 2000 and Thailand in November 2002, respectively. 

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