A Vietnamese delegation led by Tran Van Hang, Head of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations, is attending the 125 th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Bern city, Switzerland, from October 16-19.

Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey opened the event, which saw the attendance of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IPU President Theo-Ben Gurirab and over 1,200 delegates from 130 countries.

The General Assembly focused discussions on issues such as disarmament, recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa , principles of the financial market, global governance, woman and child health care, and green economy.

Participants also debated measures to solve conflicts in different regions in the world besides joining bilateral dialogues.

Established in 1889, the Geneva-based IPU is the world’s most long-standing multilateral political organisation with 157 member parliamentary organisations./.