Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai co-chaired a press conference, following the closing ceremony of the 40th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA 40) in Bangkok on August 29.

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.