National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ (centre) attends the meeting of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly's Executive Committee within the AIPA-43 framework.  VNA/VNS Photo

PHNOM PENH — National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vương Đình Huệ attended a meeting of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)’s Executive Committee within the framework of the 43rd AIPA General Assembly in Phnom Penh on November 20.

At the meeting, the executive committee discussed and approved the working agenda of the AIPA-43, delegates to the meetings of Women Parliamentarians of AIPA (WAIPA) and Young Parliamentarians of AIPA, a joint statement, and the date and venue for the 44th AIPA General Assembly.

The AIPA-43 will officially open in Phnom Penh on November 21 under the theme “Advancing together for sustainable, inclusive and resilient ASEAN”.

The 43rd AIPA General Assembly will focus its discussions on peace, security, multilateralism and ASEAN centrality; and exchange views on how to strengthen parliamentary diplomacy on maritime security, promote regional stability in Southeast Asia, and boost parliamentary cooperation for inclusive and sustainable economic growth through an integrated approach to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria.

Delegates are also to discuss gender equality and women's empowerment for a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; the enhancement of the role of female parliamentarians in advancing the agenda on women, peace and security; and the promotion of youths’ engagement for a prosperous and sustainable ASEAN community.

Joint statement

The leaders of the National Assemblies of Việt Nam, Cambodia and Laos signed a joint statement on establishing their summit mechanism in Phnom Penh on November 20, in the framework of the 43rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43).

Signatories to the joint statement were Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ, President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin and Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane.

The joint statement said the three NA leaders agreed to upgrade the current conference among the three NAs’ committees to the CLV Parliamentary Summit, which will be held every two years under the rotational chair of the leaders of the three NAs in alphabet order.

The joint statement affirmed that the establishment of the CLV Parliamentary Summit mechanism is aimed at promoting and strengthening the friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation among the three countries, focusing on socio-economic development, defence-security cooperation and people’s exchange, for sustainable development of the three countries and the region as a whole.

The mechanism will promote and monitor the implementation of agreements, action programmes and cooperation projects reached by the three Governments as well as of multilateral agreements to which the three countries are members; promote the sharing and exchange of information, experience and good practices in performing the functions and tasks of the three NAs; allocate budgets and discuss ways to mobilise capital from partners in and outside the CLV region to carry out programmes and projects in the development triangle and other fields of cooperation.

Meeting with Vietnamese community

NA Chairman Huệ also met representatives of the Vietnamese community in Cambodia on the same day.

Huệ told Vietnamese people living in Cambodia that the two countries have completed 84 per cent of the demarcation and marker planting of their shared borderline, and are working on the rest.

Regarding a proposal related to the legal status of people of Vietnamese origin, the top legislator said that in their latest meeting, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen told him that Cambodia was taking a new approach to the issue of nationality. With this move, anyone who has lived continuously in Cambodia for seven years has the right to apply for naturalisation, and the Cambodian Government will consider and propose to the King on this issue.

Huệ also said that in his official visit, he had proposed the National Assembly President, the Senate President and the PM of Cambodia take measures to ensure the livelihoods for Vietnamese people, especially those engaged in fish farming.

The NA Chairman stressed the importance of maintaining Vietnamese and Khmer languages in the community, affirming his backing for plans of the embassy and Vietnamese associations in Cambodia in this work.

He expressed his hope that Vietnamese businesses operating in Cambodia prioritise recruiting Vietnamese Cambodians and helping them in vocational training and skills improvement.

The Party and State always pay attention to and consider the overseas Vietnamese community as an integral part, and an important factor contributing to strengthening the friendship and cooperation between Việt Nam and other countries.

On this occasion, the top legislator presented US$30,000 to a fund supporting the relocation of Vietnamese people from lakes and rivers, while the Vietnamese NA Office granted $5,000 to the Khmer-Việt Nam Association in Cambodia. — VNS