The Vietnamese National Assembly has announced in its press conference that it will hold the 41st general assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, AIPA virtually through video conference from Sept 8 to Sept 10. The AIPA – 41 is based on theme of “Parliamentary diplomacy for a cohesive and responsive ASEAN Community”.

Nguyen Manh Tien, Head of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly – 41 information sub-committee and Vice Chairman of the NA’s Committee for External Relations, has said that this will be the third time that the Vietnamese legislature will hold the assembly and will play the role of AIPA Chair.

He believes that AIPA-41 is an important highlight of the 14th NA’s external activities and helps to highlight Vietnam’s State and parliamentary diplomacy achievements.

As Chair of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly 41 and AIPA Chair 2020, Vietnamese NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will preside over and deliver the opening and closing remarks. She will also present the AIPA-41 General Assembly Chairmanship and AIPA chairmanship 2021 to the next host.

In particular, the 41st General Assembly will pass the committee’s draft resolutions, establish the meeting of AIPA young parliamentarians, admit new observers, present awards of dedication to AIPA and sign a joint statement through an announcement.

Nguyen Van Giau, Chairman of the NA’s Committee for External Relations and deputy head of the organizing committee’s standing board, has informed that the AIPA young parliamentarians meeting will have the theme of “AIPA young parliamentarians build ASEAN Community”.

Regarding the admission of new observers, the organizing committee has received four files from Georgia, Norway, Morocco and Pakistan. Regarding the AIPA meeting of female parliamentarians, NA’s Social Affairs Committee Chairman Nguyen Thuy Anh will chair the meeting and will discuss the role of female parliamentarians in ensuring the work and income of female workers.

The AIPA-41 will also address the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on ASEAN countries. It will discuss the recovery plans for hard hit sectors of the economy such as tourism and aviation which are badly affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has 10 member countries named Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam and has 8 partner countries named Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, and the U.S.