Vietnam promotes parliamentary diplomacy through AIPA meetings
VOV.VN - The nation’s attendance at the General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-42) marks one of the first official multilateral external activities of the 15th National Assembly (NA), continuing to demonstrate its position and role following the AIPA- 41 held in Hanoi.
The Vietnamese legislature will send a message of innovation, responsibility, and initiative to AIPA-42 which is currently underway in Brunei in videoconference format from August 23 to August 25.
National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue is leading the Vietnamese NA delegation at the AIPA-42 following an invitation from Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib.
The participation of the Vietnamese NA delegation at the function is also a continuation of the very important achievements made by Vietnamese parliamentary diplomacy over the years.
According to NA Standing Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man, the AIPA-42 theme of "Forging Parliamentary Cooperation in Digital Inclusion towards ASEAN Community 2025" clearly displays the organisation’s determination and consensus on partnering with ASEAN. Collaboration efforts will largely seek to control COVID-19, overcome difficulties in economic recovery, whilst reinforcing intra-bloc solidarity.
The purpose of the occasion is also to carry out the association’s foreign policy goal of independence, self-reliance, balance, and maintaining its central role to complete aims relating to ASEAN Community building. This will be done alongside developing the image of a responsible ASEAN that is willing to co-ordinate in responding to emerged issues, said NA Vice Chairman Man.
During the upcoming AIPA-42, member parliaments will be continuing to reaffirm efforts, together with ASEAN member countries, to enhance the response capacity of each country and boost mutual support to stamp out COVID-19, he said.
By taking a comprehensive and parallel approach to pandemic control, ASEAN is intensifying measures within the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework, in which reform, renovation, digital transformation, and growth model transformation are considered leverage for the recovery of the association’s sustainable growth.
According to Vu Hai Ha, head of the NA Committee for External Relations, the 15-member Vietnamese delegation will engage in several major activities of the AIPA-42. This includes the opening ceremony, the first and second plenary sessions, the meeting of the Women Parliamentarians of AIPA (WAIPA), meetings of AIPA committees, the signing of the joint statement, along with the closing ceremony.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will send a greeting message to the event, welcoming AIPA parliamentary co-operation, as well as the support given by Governments of ASEAN member countries. The primary focus will be on promoting ASEAN's central role alongside dialogue and co-operation, building trust, and strengthening a peaceful, secure, and stable environment in the region toward building a digital economy within the bloc.
Ha said that during the AIPA-42, member parliaments will discuss and adopt a procedure to organise AIPA Young Parliamentarians’ meetings, a specific step to realise Vietnamese initiatives at the 41st AIPA General Assembly held in the nation back in 2020. Indeed, this will offer a range of favourable conditions for young parliamentarians to participate in AIPA activities.
Over the duration of the event, the Vietnamese NA will also propose initiatives to further augment inter-parliamentary co-operation in ASEAN. These proposals and ideas express the message of the country's innovation and actions for the development of the ASEAN Community, emphasized Ha.
