Speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco Habib El Malki (Photo: AFP/VNA) Algiers (VNA) – Speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco Habib ElMalki on August 26 officially called on the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly(AIPA) to grant Morocco an observer status within thebody, according to localmedia.
He made thestatement at the 40th AIPA General Assembly in Bangkok where he was the guest of honour.
On the sidelines of thisevent, El Malki met with chairpersons of parliaments of ASEAN member countries todiscuss bilateral cooperation and ways to further bolster parliamentarydiplomacy.
It is anopportunity to strengthen relations between Morocco and the bloc and exploreprospects for cooperation given the partnership frameworks established betweenthe Moroccan House of Representatives and some parliarments of ASEAN memberstates.
Morocco is theonly Arab and African country to participate in the AIPA, founded in 1977 with10 member countries and 12 observers.
In his remarksat the assembly’s plenary opening session, El Malki said Morocco stands readyto strengthen cooperation with ASEAN and involve parliamentary diplomacy withthis important region.
The top legislator said that Morocco is a member of different associations likethe African Inter-Parliamentary Union, Pan-African Parliament, adding that thecountry has the status ofMediterranean partner in the NATO parliamentary assembly, the status of partnerfor democracy in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, inaddition to the observer status in most sub-regional parliamentary assembliesin Latin America.
On the same day, El Malkiheld a bilateral meeting with with Vietnamese National Assembly ChairwomanNguyen Thi Kim Ngan who invited him to attendAIPA 41 in Vietnam next year. - VNA
VNA
