Johari Receives Courtesy Calls From Heads Of Delegations To AIPA

From Ahmad Erwan Othman

VIENTIANE, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul today received courtesy calls from heads of delegations to the 45th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

He also received courtesy calls from observer delegations from Norway, Ukraine, Russia, and Armenia at the National Convention Centre (NCC) here.

Johari, who led the Malaysian Parliament delegation to AIPA, paid a courtesy call on President of Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Maha Rathsapheathika Thipadei Khuon Sudary.

During the meeting, Johari and Khuon Sudary, the first woman in Cambodia's history to hold the position, exchanged views on the importance of enhancing diplomacy and the digitalisation of parliament, as well as investment in halal and energy industries.

Johari also received separate courtesy calls from Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam Pehin Datuk Abdul Rahman Taib, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, as well as Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs Nararya S. Soeprapto.

In all these meetings, discussions touched upon various issues of mutual interest, including security, regional cooperation, and readiness to extend expertise in support of Malaysia's chairmanship of ASEAN and AIPA next year.

The Malaysian Parliament delegation to the assembly comprised Pahang State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin, three senators and 11 MPs, as well as representatives from the Foreign Ministry, Parliament of Malaysia and Malaysian Embassy in Laos.

The senators are Datuk Seri Dr Zurainah Musa, Abun Sui Anyit, and Roderick Wong, while the MPs are Wong Chen (Subang), Datuk Awang Hashim (Pendang), Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Ledang), Young Syefura Othman (Bentong), Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Bukit Bendera), Cha Kee Chin (Rasah), Azli Yusof (Shah Alam), Yusof Abd Wahab (Tanjong Manis), Rodziah Ismail (Ampang), Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Pasir Mas), and Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari (Sungai Petani).

These MPs and senators are each responsible for attending the planned bilateral meetings and dialogues during the AIPA general assembly.

Tomorrow, Laos, as the current AIPA Chair, will symbolically hand over the chairmanship to Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA