Public and media relations came into focus at the conference of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) held in the Hanoi National Convention Centre on March 29 as part of the on-going 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-132).

Several reports on the matter were presented during the conference, including “Active transparency measures and measures related to citizens right of access to public information in the Spanish Senate” by Secretary General of the Spanish Senate Manuel Cavero, and Secretary General of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Irfan Neziroglu’s presentation on public relations of parliaments and the case of Turkish Parliament.

In his keynote speech, Chairman of the Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc said that Vietnam’s NA has been making efforts to reform its operations and enhancing their effectiveness, including adopting the amended 2013 Constitution.

It is vital for Vietnam’s NA to improve the capability of its deputies and bodies, particularly in preparation for the Law on the organisation of the NA, which will come into effect in January 2016 and necessitate structural reforms, he stressed.

He hoped that the attending international delegations would share ideas to assist Vietnam in its reforms.

The conference runs through April 1. Participants included ASGP President Doris Katai Katebe Mwinga.

The ASGP, constituted as a consultative body of the IPU, seeks to facilitate contacts between holders of the office of Secretary General in any parliamentary assembly, whether such assembly is a member of the IPU or not. ASGP membership is thus independent of the IPU.

The task of the association is to study the law, procedure, practice and working methods of different Parliaments and to propose measures for improving those methods and for securing cooperation between the services of different Parliaments.-VNA