by Vo Mai Nguyen Phuong
HANOI, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Parliamentarians from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) called for an enhanced role and position of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) here on Friday.
The call was made at the closing ceremony of the 31st AIPA General Assembly held here Friday. The meeting drew parliamentarians or representatives from ASEAN members and AIPA observers.
The parliamentarians agreed that AIPA should continue enhancing the effectiveness of its activities to contribute actively to the development of the ASEAN Community by 2015, said Vietnamese Chairman of National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong, Chair of the 31st AIPA here on Friday at a press briefing.
Parliamentarians held that rapid and diverse developments of the region and the world, and impacts of the global financial crisis require countries in the region to intensify cooperation for continued growth.
They agreed that solidarity was the foundation for shared sustainable development and serves as a key element in building an ASEAN Community of peace and prosperity of the people and for the people, said Trong.
Under the theme of "Solidarity for sustainable development of the ASEAN Community", ASEAN legislators discussed a wide range of regional and international issues during this AIPA meeting.
They adopted 22 resolutions regarding politics, security, economic cooperation, culture, society, activities of women parliamentarians and organizational matters of AIPA, according to Trong.
The lawmakers stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between ASEAN and AIPA, he said.
They recommended that the official meeting among leaders of AIPA and ASEAN should be held as an annual activity, said Trong.
Trong said that the parliamentarians also called on countries to strengthen regional economic integration for sustainable development and reduce the development gap among countries in the region.
They urged countries to pay greater attention to respond to climate change, natural disaster management, pandemics prevention and human resources development.
At the end of the 31st AIPA meeting, AIPA members adopted a joint statement to announce the meeting's major outcomes and demonstrate AIPA members' commitment to strive for enhanced AIPA's role and position, intensified collaboration between ASEAN and AIPA, and an AIPA reaching out to the people, said Trong.
They welcomed India as the new AIPA's observer as well. Currently, AIPA's observers include Australia, Canada, China, European Parliament, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Russia. Myanmar, an ASEAN member, is AIPA's special observer.
ASEAN now groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.