ASEAN parliament leaders to meet in Indonesia's Lombok

Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province is scheduled to host the 33rd ASEAN Inter-Parliament Assembly (AIPA) from Sept. 16 to 22, NTB Governor Zainul Maidi said on Thursday.


"Around 350 people, including parliament leaders from 10 ASEAN nations, will take part in 2012 AIPA slated to be held in Lombok this September," he said.


Zainul added that event was scheduled to be opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the province's capital city of Mataram.


"We have a lot of places in Mataram city where the ASEAN Inter- Parliamentary Assembly can be held," Zainul said in Mataram.


He said the 2012 AIPA would discuss further cooperation with African countries' parliaments following the signing of MoU on Feb. 17 this year between AIPA Chairman Marzuki Alie and Pan African Parliament (PAP) President Moussa Idriss Ndele.

The MoU was signed when Marzuki and Moussa met at the 6th Ordinary Session of Pan African Parliament at the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, early this year, the Antara news service reported.


During the meeting, Marzuki raised several important points concerning the relations between the two regional institutions.

He also proposed ways to strengthen the relationship between AIPA and PAP, to which Moussa had responded positively.-The Philippine Star (August 03, 2012)