Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (centre) and Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai co-chair a press conference (left) in Bangkok on August 29

On behalf of the Vietnamese parliament, Chairwoman Ngan congratulated Thailand on the success of the AIPA 40, from which Vietnam has learnt many experiences to prepare for the AIPA 41 that will be held in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, in 2020.

She expressed her honour to take over the AIPA 41 chairmanship from AIPA 40 Chairman Chuan Leekpai, stressing that she hopes the member parliaments will stay united to promote the stature of the AIPA in the time ahead.

After the 40th event, Vietnam will immediately begin preparing for the AIPA 41 by setting up a national steering committee and an organising board for it. On the basis of the AIPA 40’s success, the country will exert efforts to successfully organise the next general assembly, Ngan added.

Highlighting the AIPA 40’s achievements, Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai shared the preparations for the event and thanked relevant sides for their efforts.

He stressed the need to implement the issues relating to the people in the region in a practical manner so that the AIPA will become more popular with them. He called for more concrete and practical connectivity between parliaments and governments to address problems facing ASEAN’s peoples so as to improve the role of the AIPA.

The speaker also emphasised the importance of enhancing friendship and people-to-people exchange among countries.

NA Chairwoman concludes Thailand trip

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) and Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives and Chair of AIPA 40 Chuan Leekpai

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and her entourage arrived in Hanoi on August 29 afternoon, concluding her trip to attend the 40th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 40) and pay an official visit to Thailand.

The trip was made at the invitation of Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives and Chair of AIPA 40 Chuan Leekpai.

Delivering an important speech at the first plenary session, Ngan stressed that AIPA and its parliamentarians are willing to partner with ASEAN to build a sustainable Community with peace, stability, rule of law, people-centred operations and unity.

At the closing session, the top Vietnamese legislator assumed the role of AIPA Chair from Chuan Leekpai.

She affirmed that the Vietnamese legislature will continue renewing AIPA’s operations, improving its stature in the building of ASEAN Community.

Via activities within the AIPA framework, the Vietnamese NA will continue enhancing partnership between AIPA and ASEAN, international organisations and other multilateral cooperation mechanisms to step up the delivery of commitments in the building of ASEAN Community – Vision 2025, she said.

On the sidelines of AIPA 40, NA Chairwoman Ngan met with Speaker of Moroccan House of Representatives Habib El Malki and President of the Cambodian National Assembly Heng Samrin.

While in Thailand, Chairwoman Ngan held talks with Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai, met Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Speaker of the Thai Senate Pornpetch Wichitcholchai.

She also visited Udon Thani province and met its Governor Watana Puttichat. VNA