Manila (VNA) – The ASEAN Inter-ParliamentaryAssembly (AIPA) pledges to continue fostering its relations with ASEAN at alllevels of cooperation, according to an AIPA message sent to the ASEAN leadersat a meeting in Manila on April 29.

Delivering the message, AIPA President andSpeaker of the Philippines’ House of Representatives Pantaleon D. Alvarezaffirmed that the assembly supports the achievement of the ASEAN CommunityVision 2025 through harmonising the laws in the member states and buildingcommon standards through issuing domestic laws that are in line with ASEAN’sagreements and commitments.

AIPA reiterated its support for the ASEANPolitical-Security Community Blueprint, the enhancement of ASEAN’s central roleand unanimity in the region’s evolving architecture and in commitments withdialogue partners.

The message also reviewed the joint statement ofthe ASEAN and Chinese foreign ministers at the ASEAN Foreign Minister’s Meetingheld in Vientiane, Laos, in July 2016. This statement repeated the commitmentof all parties concerned to fully and effectively implementing the Declarationon the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and the freedom of navigation insideand outside of the East Sea.

AIPA stressed the need to keep peace, prosperityand cooperation in the East Sea, to resolve territorial disputes by peacefulmeans, and to exercise self-restraint in conformity with international law,including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

AIPA called on ASEAN to ensure theimplementation of commitments and finalise a framework for a Code of Conduct inthe East Sea in mid-2017.

In its message, the regional assembly highlyvalued the progress of the ASEAN Economic Community, which is transforming theregion into a more open market. It asked ASEAN to step up market integrationand encourage the private sector’s engagement and contributions so as to ensurethe financial demand for infrastructure development under the Master Plan onASEAN Connectivity 2025.

AIPA and ASEAN should cooperate to promoteentrepreneurship and human resources development, thus helping micro-, small-and medium-sized enterprises gradually integrate into the ASEAN EconomicCommunity.

AIPA noted the ASEAN Socio-Cultural CommunityBlueprint focuses on building a people-oriented, people-centred and sociallyresponsible ASEAN Community. Therefore, human resources development policiesneed to be enhanced to promote people’s access to skills and life-longlearning, bring people to the centre of community building activities, andinvolve them in regional integration efforts.

AIPA also asked the ASEAN countries to activelycarry out the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to strengthen ties toensure water resources security for the sake of people and sustainabledevelopment in the region.

At the ASEAN and AIPA leaders’ meeting, PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc underlined that AIPA plays an indispensable role inthe regional connectivity and the ASEAN Community building process.

He said ASEAN and AIPA should increasecommunication to align each country’s laws and legal procedures with ASEAN’scommon standards. He also asked the assembly to help accelerate theratification of ASEAN’s legal documents and agreements.

National Assembly Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hienled the Vietnamese delegation to join other representatives of AIPA’s memberparliaments at the meeting.

An AIPA-ASEAN meeting became an annual event held during an ASEAN summit since2009 as part of effort to promote the connection between the legislative andexecutive bodies.-VNA