National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan speaks at the conference (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has well fulfilled its role as Chair of the ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2020 despite serious impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic and record floods and storms, thus contributing to increasingthe country’s position and prestige in the region and the world, NationalAssembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has said.
Addressing a conference on December 23 to review Vietnam’sAIPA Chairmanship Year, Ngan stated that right from the beginning of this yearwhen the COVID-19 shows signs of spreading out, Vietnam proactively madescenarios for the AIPA Chairmanship Year and consulted member states aboutorganizing activities in an online format.
Accordingly, the 41st AIPA General Assembly washeld online – the first time in the history of AIPA.
With the leadership and regulation of Vietnam, the AIPA-41was claimed a success, reflected through the full participation and support ofmember parliaments, observers and international parliamentary organisations.
Of note, at the AIPA-41, the AIPA Committee on PoliticalMatters could convene its meeting, after none was held in the three previousGeneral Assemblies. This was an important result, Ngan said.
She added that during this General Assembly, Vietnaminitiated the organisation of the AIPA Young Parliamentarians’ Meeting and a conferenceon “Parliamentary Partnership on Educational and Cultural Cooperation forSustainable Development”, which were supported by all member parliaments.
The contents of the AIPA Chairmanship Year 2020 and theAIPA-41 have helped the organisation define a strategic vision for the next5-10 years, affirming the role of parliamentary diplomacy in the region and theworld, contributing to developing the ASEAN Community, Ngan affirmed.
She stressed that over the past 25 years, the VietnameseNational Assembly has made important contributions to the AIPA, and the successof the ASEAN Chairmanship Year as well as the AIPA-41 is another contributionof Vietnam to AIPA’s development.
The top legislator also lauded the support, solidarity,friendship, cooperation and confidence of international friends for Vietnam.
The organisation of events, especially the AIPA-41, viavideoconference is unprecedented in AIPA’s 43-year history, but Vietnam hasreceived close collaboration and strong backing from member parliaments as wellas observers and the AIPA Secretariat and General Secretary.
She took the occasion to thank collectives and individualsfor making the AIPA Chairmanship Year and AIPA-41 a success./.
VNA
