The conference, chaired by the Vietnam NA Committee on Foreign Affairs, drew the participation of eight ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly member states and international organisations like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme.

During the two-day event, delegates will focus on the impact of the crisis on socio-economic development, ASEAN countries’ measures to deal with it, the role of the legislative bodies in coping with the crisis,  economic restructuring, effective governance, hunger-elimination and poverty-reduction in the post-crisis stage.

The conference is on the initiative of the Vietnam National Assembly (NA) which was approved by the AIPA-30 General Assembly in Bangkok in August 2009. It is one of the NA’s activities as AIPA-31 chair.