An exhibition focusing on Vietnam ’s National Assembly and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) opened in Hanoi on June 7 to acknowledge Vietnam ’s hosting of the 31st AIPA General Assembly.

Almost 200 documents, photographs and objects selected from the archives of the Vietnam News Agency and related agencies are on display to help visitors understand Vietnam , its people and culture as well as the achievements it has recorded after 20 years of the renewal (doi moi) process.

The exhibition also depicts the inception and development of the AIPA and the contributions made by Vietnam ’s National Assembly to the organisation’s development.

The exhibition took place at the Ministry of National Defence from June 7-21, at the Ho Chi Minh Museum from July 15-Aug. 30 and at the venue, where AIPA-31 General Assembly meeting is held, from Sept. 19-25.

On addressing the opening ceremony, Nguyen Van Son, the head of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations, said that Vietnam has actively taken part in all the organisation’s activities since it became an official member of the AIPA in 1995.

The Vietnamese legislative body has also proposed many initiatives which have become AIPA resolutions, which has helped to improve the organisation’s effectiveness and has strengthened the links between the AIPA and ASEAN, Son added.

The AIPA now consists of nine members – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Myanmar takes part as a special observer./.