Bui Thanh Son, Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of AIPA's  Committee on Political  Matters (right) speaks at the Committee's sesion (Photo:qdnd.vn)

Participants also listened to the reports of the AIPA Advisory Group Meeting and on the ASEAN-AIPA Leadership Meeting over the past three years. Concluding the meeting, Bui Thanh Son, Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of AIPA's Political Committee said the AIPA member parliaments will make every effort to promote parliamentary diplomacy and promote cooperation and coordination among nations; between the legislature and the executive in the promotion of peace, security and regional structural order to ensure transparency based on rules, with ASEAN at the center.

Mr. Son added the member parliaments agreed with the continued assurance of peace, security and stability in the East Sea, emphasizing that it is necessary to uphold the rule of law and promote cooperation in trust building, using peaceful measures based on international law, fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and towards the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) effective and consistent with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Representatives of the participating Parliaments affirmed that they will continue to strengthen ASEAN's capacity to address traditional and non-traditional security challenges and put the people at the center, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  They agreed to increase efforts to carry out parliamentary diplomacy, including the exchange of effective practices by regional and international organizations.