The Vietnamese delegation to the 42nd AIPA General Assembly (Photo: VNA)– President of the 42nd General
Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Pehin Dato Abdul
Rahman Taib, who is Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam, has lauded
Vietnam’s initiative to host an AIPA General Assembly virtually for the first
time in 2020, paving the way for the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam to host the 42nd AIPA General Assembly in a similar
virtual format this year.
“The role and contributions of the Vietnam
National Assembly, especially in terms of hosting the 41st AIPA General
Assembly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic last year, is very commendable,” he wrote
in a written interview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in
Bangkok via email.
According to Rahman Taib, the 42nd AIPA General
Assembly, held from August 23-25 amid the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, is very
significant as it displays the commitment of AIPA Member Parliaments to come
together and meet, albeit in a virtual format, despite being faced with this
unprecedented challenge.
“It also portrays our care and concern to respond
to present and future challenges with a view of achieving shared prosperity for
our peoples, in line with the theme of Brunei Darussalam’s ASEAN Chairmanship
“We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper”,” the Speaker of the Brunei Darussalam Legislative
Council stressed.
President of the 42nd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib (Photo courtesy of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam)
He went on to say that through the 42nd AIPA
General Assembly, the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam wishes to maintain the
momentum of parliamentary cooperation and enhance this further, in line with
the theme of the 42nd AIPA General Assembly which is “Forging Parliamentary
Cooperation in Digital Inclusion Towards ASEAN Community 2025”.
This is evident as the 3-day AIPA meetings, held in the traditional ASEAN
spirit of friendship, unity and cooperation, has helped to forge stronger
parliamentary cooperation, he added.
He stressed that the Legislative Council of Brunei
Darussalam and the National Assembly of Vietnam, as with other AIPA Member
Parliaments, are committed to support the work and achieve the visions and
aspirations of both AIPA and ASEAN, adding that this is done not only through
active involvement in AIPA, but also through bilateral dialogues where
possible./.