HCMC – Speaking at the 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 41) this morning, September 8, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed the important role of AIPA in maintaining peace, security, stability, cooperation and development in the region over the past decades.
Given the unpredictability of the Covid-19 pandemic, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have united and closely collaborated to overcome difficulties.
Phuc said it is now important that AIPA keeps contributing to promoting multilateralism, international connectivity, cooperation and respect for laws in the region.
The prime minister said 2020 is an important year as it marks the fifth anniversary of the ASEAN Community. But the Covid-19 pandemic, which broke out early this year, has severely affected the region’s socio economic development.
However, he believed that the ASEAN members’ unity and prompt cooperation would help them effectively resolve problems and the ASEAN would emerge even stronger.
Vietnam has basically contained the pandemic and is recovering production. The Vietnamese Government has always been willing to share its experiences in dealing with the pandemic with other countries.
Regarding the cooperation between AIPA and the governments of ASEAN members, Phuc said general plans that are based on three pillars should be prioritized: politics-security, economic development and culture-social welfare.
He suggested that AIPA members continue to join hands with the governments of ASEAN members to develop a prosperous ASEAN Community on the basis of equality, mutual respect, compliance with international law and resolve disputes and differences through peaceful methods.
AIPA-41 under the theme of “Parliamentary Diplomacy for a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN Community” marked the first time in history the AIPA General Assembly has been held online amid the complicated developments of Covid-19, with the attendance of over 380 delegates from 43 different locations. This proved the Vietnamese National Assembly’s activeness and flexibility as well as its contributions to reforming the operations of AIPA.
The hosting of AIPA-41 and activities during the AIPA Chairmanship Year 2020 have shown Vietnam’s active, responsible and practical contributions to the development of AIPA and the promotion of AIPA’s role in helping the ASEAN overcome the adverse impacts of Covid-19, maintain economic development and ensure the social welfare of all its citizens.
The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly is a regional parliamentary organization, which was originally founded on September 2, 1977, as the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) by leaders of the parliamentary delegations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand during the Third ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Manila, the Philippines.
Vietnam became an AIPA member in 1995, followed by Laos in 1997, Cambodia in 1999 and Brunei in 2009, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
The 27th AIPO General Assembly in Cebu City, the Philippines, in 2006 saw an agreement to transform the organization into a more effective and closely integrated institution and to change the organization’s name from AIPO to AIPA.
