Tehran, Jul 12 (IANS): Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has urged Asian countries to complement each other en route to the centre of the global political and economic arena in the coming years of the 21st century, according to media reports.

He made the remarks on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the meeting of the Standing Committee on Budget and Planning of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly in the Iranian capital Tehran, Xinhua news agency reported.

Qalibaf said today, the continent emerged to take a pivotal position on the international stage, and the 21st century is increasingly being referred to as the "Asian Century" in international politics amid the global power shift from the West to the East and Asia's increasingly hefty economic role.

Qalibaf recommended Asian countries, boasting the feature of "unity in diversity," to make use of this advantage and complement each other to uphold multilateralism and oppose the West's dominance.

Parliamentary representatives from 20 Asian countries took part in the meeting.