AIPA-41 concludes after three working days

During the event, the Stortinget, the name given to the supreme legislature of Norway, and the Parliament of Morocco were conferred the formal status of Observers of AIPA.

National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who is also the AIPA 41 Chair, expressed her expectation that relations between AIPA, AIPA member parliaments, and observing parliaments of AIPA, will be further deepened moving forward.

In response, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco Habib El Malki displayed the Moroccan legislative body’s willingness to make contributions to and share experiences with various AIPA member parliaments.

He outlined that he hopes the Moroccan parliament’s experiences with African, Arabian, Mediterranean, and Latin American countries will prove to be useful for AIPA.

Following this, President of the Norwegian Storting Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen explained that she felt deeply honoured that the Norwegian parliament had been selected as an AIPA observer, with this year marking the fifth anniversary of the mutual partnership between ASEAN and Norway.

During the course of the closing ceremony, President of the Laos NA Pany Yathotou and First-Vice Chairwoman of the NA Tong Thi Phong were presented with awards for their excellent contributions to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

The pair pledged to make greater contributions to the future development of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.
Upon addressing the closing ceremony, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the event had helped the AIPA move forward with its plans to implement guidelines and targets, including promoting solidarity, understanding, and close co-operation between the parliaments of ASEAN members. In addition, closer ties will help governments to build a community for peace, stability, and people’s interests.

She stressed that there are plenty of traditional and non-traditional security challenges facing the region and the wider world, saying that the AIPA should enhance solidarity and parliamentary diplomacy whilst adhering to international law and the UN Charter and ASEAN Charter to build a cohesive and responsive Community.

The top Vietnamese legislator went on to explain that sustainable peace and security are firm foundations for long-term and prosperous development. Therefore, AIPA has always strived to boost the partnership and dialogue with ASEAN at various levels, adding that AIPA will support ASEAN when it signs the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) this year, in addition to welcoming the establishment of an ASEAN fund in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The closing ceremony concluded with the transfer of the AIPA chairmanship to Brunei.

Presented on behalf of the Speaker of the Brunei Legislative Council, the Brunei Ambassador to Vietnam received a hammer, the of symbol of the AIPA, from AIPA 41 Chair Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

“The documents adopted today are a valuable foundation for us to think together about a new vision for ASEAN regional parliamentary diplomacy and towards the 45th anniversary of AIPA next year. The NA of Vietnam is ready to join you in building this new AIPA vision to bring AIPA to a new stage of development, practicality, efficiency, and greater cohesion with ASEAN,” Ngan added.