National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung on Feb. 23 met with visiting Secretary General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Antonio V. Cuenco.

Hung praised the efforts of the AIPA Secretary General during his tenure, which he said have contributed to enhancing inter-parliamentary coordination between ASEAN countries.

Vietnam ’s National Assembly is ready to partner with the AIPA Secretariat in preparation for the AIPA meeting scheduled to be held at the end of 2012, Hung said.

Vietnam also hopes that the AIPA Secretariat will ceaselessly perfect and improve its operations to meet heightened demand in the context where both AIPA and ASEAN are making efforts to build the ASEAN Community by 2015.

The top legislator expressed his wish that the AIPA Secretary General will continue to act as a conduit between the Vietnam NA and AIPA members and the AIPA observers as well.

For his part, Antonio V. Cuenco suggested the Vietnam NA actively engage in placing cooperation in preventing wild animal trafficking onto the agenda of the upcoming AIPA meeting.

He said he believed that with Vietnam ’s support, the cooperation will reap more effective results in ASEAN.

He expressed his hope that Vietnam and ASEAN members will engage in stronger actions in establishing agencies that oversee and prevent wild animal trafficking, contributing to protecting nature.

On the same day, NA Chairman Hung held talks with Freeland Foundation’s Executive Director Steve Galster, during which Hung applauded the foundation’s proposals in drafting a joint ASEAN regulation on the prevention of wild animal trafficking.

Vietnam put forward concrete and strict regulations and took part in related international conventions, Hung said, affirming Vietnam ’s support for the battle.-VNA