Aquino optimistic about ASEAN parliamentary talks

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - President Benigno Aquino III is optimistic that the 34th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) will devise frameworks that help shape the future of Southeast Asian countries  

"May this assembly advance our partnership, in accord with our community's vision for the coming decade, and bring into alignment our roadmap for development. Let this revisiting of strategies and policy choices likewise give way to a strengthened agenda for growth and empowerment among our representatives, that we may continue to institutionalize reforms and break ground on an even more competitive and progressive Southeast Asia," Aquino said in a statement today.

The five-day AIPA opened Sept. 17 in Brunei Darussalam, which has for its theme "The Role of AIPA in Realizing the ASEAN Community."

"The ASEAN remains a dynamic bloc in this globalized milieu, with our ties of amity, mutual respect, and cooperation serving as the building blocks for our collective success," the president said in his message to the AIPA.

The president said the Philippines, for its part, redoubles its campaign to nourish the seeds of good governance and sustain the country's transformed outlook.

Aquino said his administration is also committed to justice which will guide the legislators in devising frameworks that will shape the future of the ASEAN nations.

The participants of AIPA will discuss the following issues: supporting for the ASEAN Political Security Community, sustainable development of small and medium enterprises, nurturing the role of young people in the future challenges of ASEAN and advocating better maternal and child health in the regional bloc.

The AIPA members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.