Under the chair of ASGP President Philippe Schawab, the meeting focused discussions on the role and organization of parliaments amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and shared experience in holding virtual meetings.

Addressing the event, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong expressed his delight at fine cooperation between IPU and ASGP, and his hope for continued collaboration with the association.

leftcenterrightdel
Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Truong Giang (left) on May 27 attended an online meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP)

At the meeting, participants showed their delight when the member parliaments have basically reached a consensus on adapting to the pandemic via digital transformation, application of information technology, building digital parliaments, and increasing online meetings.

On May 26, National Assembly Standing Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man participated in the virtual opening of the 142nd IPU Assembly, during which he stressed the necessity to continue to promote the partnership between the IPU and regional parliamentary organizations and international organizations in preventing and settling crises or emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Man suggested that the IPU should call on countries with advantages in COVID-19 vaccine production to support developing and pandemic-hit countries to gain fair and timely access to vaccine sources and modern medical equipment at reasonable prices.

He also proposed the World Health Organization (WHO) and countries foster their partnership and collaboration in transferring vaccine production technology and training to improve COVID-19 response capacity.

Source: VNA