At the event (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for External RelationsNguyen Van Giau took part in a teleconference on April 21 regarding the role ofparliaments in international cooperation in fighting COVID-19.
Held by theIndonesian Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, the teleconference featuredthe participation of Chairman of Indonesia's House of Representatives’ Commissionfor Foreign Affairs Fadli Zon, Deputy Speaker of Malaysia’s House of RepresentativesDato Mohamad Rashid Hasnon, head of the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly’sad-hoc committee for responding to the coronavirus outbreak Kim Jin-pyo, the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO) representative in Indonesia Navaratnasamy Paranietharan, and ExecutiveSecretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific ArmidaAlisjahbana.
Giau highlightedthe message from the President of the ASEAN Inter-ParliamentaryAssembly (AIPA) 2020 Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in her letter sent to heads of AIPA memberson March 30, which called on AIPA member states to be more active in partneringwith governments in their fight against COVID-19 through upholding the role of parliamentsand issuing measures and policies in that regard.
He added that as AIPA Chair 2020, Vietnam welcomed the outcomes of the onlineASEAN Special Summit and ASEAN 3 Special Summit on COVID-19, which were chaired by PrimeMinister and Chair of ASEAN Vietnam 2020 Nguyen Xuan Phuc on April 14.
Declarationsreaffirmed ASEAN member states’ determination and commitments in a “cohesive andresponsive” spirit to contain the spread of the pandemic while mitigating its impactson regional socio-economic development.
Directorof the Hanoi Medical University Hospital Nguyen Lan Hieu spoke of Vietnam’s experiencein COVID-19 prevention and control, which were hailed by participants. He addedthat Vietnam has so far recorded 268 infections, with 214 recoveries and no fatalities. No new cases have been reported for five consecutivedays.
In face ofprofound changes caused by COVID-19, parliamentarians urged governments and parliamentsin the region and the world to stay united to combat the pandemic, ensure socialwelfare for citizens, and offer all possible support to the vulnerable in society.
They alsoasked international financial organisations to offer debt payment extensions todeveloping countries and to continue working with the UN and the WHO to improve thecapacity to cope with the pandemic on national and regional scales./.
