ASEAN regional parliamentary meeting soon

HANOI: The 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 41) will be held virtually on Sept. 8-10, a Vietnamese official said on Friday.
The three-day event will gather 10 delegations from AIPA member parliaments, 12 delegations from AIPA observer parliaments, along with AIPA Secretary-General and Secretariat, Nguyen Van Giau, head of AIPA 41 organizing board, told a press briefing in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Vietnamese top legislator and AIPA 41 President Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will deliver opening remarks at the meeting, Giau noted.
Themed “Parliamentary Diplomacy for a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN Community,” the event will include a meeting of woman parliamentarians to promote the role of woman parliamentarians in securing jobs and income for women workers.
An unofficial meeting of young parliamentarians, and discussion on the role of parliaments in promoting ASEAN economic cohesion and recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic will also be included, according to the organizers. AIPA serves as a center of communication and information among parliaments of the
ASEAN members, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The General Assembly, the highest body in AIPA, is held once a year to provide policy directions for the development of AIPA’s objectives and as a forum for interchange between its members. This year is the third time Vietnam assumes the AIPA presidency and hosts the AIPA General Assembly.­–Agencies