AIPA-42, themed “Forging Parliamentary Cooperation in Digital Inclusion towards ASEAN Community 2025”, is taking place via videoconference from August 23 to 25 with the participation of leaders and legislators of AIPA member parliaments, observer delegations, and the AIPA Secretary-General.
In his welcoming remarks, the AIPA-42 President and Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei, Abdul Rahman Taib Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela, congratulated Vietnam on successfully organising AIPA-41 via videoconference last year.
He noted that as the theme of AIPA-42 says, member parliaments should promote and create conditions for digital inclusion and consider this as a measure for further enhancing parliamentary cooperation amid the pandemic.
The theme also highlights parliamentarians’ important role in supporting the ASEAN vision of a politically cohesive, economically integrated, and socially responsible community towards the ASEAN Community in 2025.
Such notable issues as women empowerment, climate change, cyber security, and international economic integration have been included in the AIPA-42 agenda, according to the speaker.
Declaring the opening of AIPA-42, Bruneian Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Chair of ASEAN 2021, held that this year, the bloc stays responsive to unexpected events, and AIPA is in the process of promoting the cohesion among member parliaments so as to help build an increasingly cohesive ASEAN Community./.
VNA/VNP
