Asian Parliamentary Assembly Invites Cambodia to Host Meeting of Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs Next Year
Phnom Penh, December 02, 2023 --
The Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) has invited the Cambodian National Assembly to host next year’s meeting of the group’s Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs.
APA Secretary-General Dr. Mohammad Reza Majidi made the request during bilateral talks with National Assembly Second Vice President H.E. Vong Sauth on the sidelines of an APA Executive Council meeting in the Turkish city of Antalya earlier this week.
H.E. Vong Sauth warmly thanked Dr. Majidi for the kind invitation and said he would convey it to the National Assembly leadership.
APA's Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs most recently met in September in Baku in Azerbaijan, which is scheduled to hold the APA presidency in 2024 and 2025.
COMMISSION ON WOMEN
The Baku meeting adopted a draft resolution to set up a Commission on Women within the framework of APA, which was subsequently endorsed by the Executive Council in Antalya.
Members of parliament from across the region are to consider the resolution at the next APA Plenary Session, expected to be hosted by Azerbaijan early next year.
They are also expected to hear from a working group on Palestine, which the Executive Council meeting in Antalya agreed to set up.
TALKS WITH TURKISH SPEAKER
H.E. Vong Sauth also held bilateral talks with Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Speaker H.E. Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmus, the current president of APA.
The Second Vice President expressed his heartfelt congratulations to Türkiye commemorating 100 years as a republic on Oct. 30
He noted growing ties between the Cambodian and Turkish governments – including efforts to boost annual two-way trade to US$ 1 billion – and urged stronger cooperation between the two parliaments. In his address to the Executive Council on Nov. 27, H.E. Vong Sauth recalled that the Cambodian National Assembly was one of the founding members of the Asian Parliamentary Association for Peace (AAPP).
In addition to hosting the Second AAPP General Assembly in 2000, the National Assembly chaired the Eighth Plenary Session of APA in Phnom Penh in 2015 and the Ninth Session in Siem Reap the following year.
“I am confident that our positive interactions and dialogue will accelerate mutual understanding, friendship and solidarity among Member Parliaments and States, contributing to peace, stability and development throughout Asia and the world,” he said.
Other members of the Cambodian delegation to the Executive Council meeting were H.E. Keo Piseth, Secretary of the National Assembly Commission on Justice and Legislation, and H.E. Ty Sokun, Secretary of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation.