The Vietnamese delegation to the 42nd AIPA General Assembly (Photo: VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – President of the 42nd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib, who is Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam, has lauded Vietnam’s initiative to host an AIPA General Assembly virtually for the first time in 2020, paving the way for the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam to host the 42nd AIPA General Assembly in a similar virtual format this year.
“The role and contributions of the Vietnam National Assembly, especially in terms of hosting the 41st AIPA General Assembly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic last year, is very commendable,” he wrote in a written interview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Bangkok via email.
According to Rahman Taib, the 42nd AIPA General Assembly, held from August 23-25 amid the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, is very significant as it displays the commitment of AIPA Member Parliaments to come together and meet, albeit in a virtual format, despite being faced with this unprecedented challenge.
“It also portrays our care and concern to respond to present and future challenges with a view of achieving shared prosperity for our peoples, in line with the theme of Brunei Darussalam’s ASEAN Chairmanship “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper”,” the Speaker of the Brunei Darussalam Legislative Council stressed.
President of the 42nd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib (Photo courtesy of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam) He went on to say that through the 42nd AIPA General Assembly, the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam wishes to maintain the momentum of parliamentary cooperation and enhance this further, in line with the theme of the 42nd AIPA General Assembly which is “Forging Parliamentary Cooperation in Digital Inclusion Towards ASEAN Community 2025”.
This is evident as the 3-day AIPA meetings, held in the traditional ASEAN spirit of friendship, unity and cooperation, has helped to forge stronger parliamentary cooperation, he added.
He stressed that the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam and the National Assembly of Vietnam, as with other AIPA Member Parliaments, are committed to support the work and achieve the visions and aspirations of both AIPA and ASEAN, adding that this is done not only through active involvement in AIPA, but also through bilateral dialogues where possible./.
VNA
