The Malaysian Parliament and the 46th AIPA General Assembly: When Parliament is at the forefront of building a common future

With the theme “ Parliament at the forefront for an inclusive and sustainable ASEAN growth”, the 46th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-46) is expected to be the place where the legislative body will demonstrate its new role in “transforming people’s aspirations into action”, as affirmed by the Speaker of the Malaysian House of Representatives and Chairman of AIPA-46 Tan Sri Dato’Johari Bin Abdul.

Linking the role of parliaments to the new ASEAN Vision

Four months ago, also in Kuala Lumpur, within the framework of the 46th ASEAN Summit, regional leaders adopted the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. This document officially opened a new chapter for ASEAN's development in the next 20 years, and is a "living contract with the future" as the Malaysian Prime Minister affirmed.

Along with the vision of the executive, the 46th AIPA General Assembly will be a pivotal moment in the ASEAN process, demonstrating the “frontline” role of the legislature in the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.

In 2025, Malaysia will hold two key positions simultaneously: the ASEAN Chairmanship and the AIPA Chairmanship. This dual role will allow Kuala Lumpur to align the region’s legislative and executive agenda more effectively than ever before.

Source: Parlimen Malaysia Instagram

With this dual role, Malaysia has chosen “inclusiveness and sustainability” as its overarching theme. Inclusiveness reflects the need to ensure that ASEAN’s growth benefits all segments of society – from rural to urban, from women to youth, while sustainability highlights the need to protect the environment and resources for future generations. This underscores Malaysia’s belief that ASEAN is committed to fostering regional peace , stability and prosperity in an inclusive, sustainable and future-oriented framework.

The 46th AIPA General Assembly is a continuation of that spirit and concretizes the goals through policy actions of the legislature.

From advisory role to active legislative role

Traditionally, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly has been seen as a consultative body supporting regional cooperation. However, the challenges of the 21st century require a more robust role. Under the theme “Parliament at the forefront for inclusive and sustainable growth in ASEAN”, this Assembly stressed the need for regional parliamentary structures to transform from advisory bodies to proactive legislative leadership, creating effective oversight mechanisms, ensuring accountability, and translating regional aspirations into concrete laws and policies. This transformation is reflected in three key tasks:

First is legislation: AIPA is tasked with translating regional commitments into national law, such as commitments on digital economic cooperation, climate change response, or sustainable agriculture that must be codified domestically to take effect.

Second is monitoring and accountability: AIPA has a role in monitoring the implementation of ASEAN commitments, ensuring promises are translated into concrete results.

Finally , AIPA, as a representative body, brings the voice and concerns of the people into ASEAN policies, avoiding policies that are imposed from the top down.

By placing parliament at the centre, AIPA-46 affirms that the next chapter of ASEAN must be co-created by legislators.

Main tasks

With a new mission to serve ASEAN’s new journey, the 46th AIPA General Assembly is tasked with highlighting the central role of parliaments in promoting inclusive and sustainable development, considering it a key driver for ASEAN’s long-term goals. At the same time, the conference also aims to encourage mutual learning among member states through sharing good legislative practices and effective oversight mechanisms.

In addition, the General Assembly aims to strengthen the capacity of parliaments to proactively respond to new challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of inclusive growth. To this end, AIPA encourages closer cooperation with civil society, the private sector and academia to ensure that the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 is driven by broad participation.

Ultimately, the General Assembly is tasked with formulating concrete policy and legislative recommendations that contribute to a fairer, more resilient and more forward-looking ASEAN.

In parallel with intra-bloc dialogue, dialogue sessions with partner parliaments within the framework of AIPA-46 also play an important role, not only promoting ASEAN's partnership but also consolidating the Association's central role in the regional structure, emphasizing the message of peace and development.

AIPA-46 is not only an important diplomatic event of the region; it is also a place to affirm the leading role of parliaments, towards institutionalizing the culture of parliamentary leadership in ASEAN's future development plan in the next 20 years - ASEAN Community Vision 2045.

Vietnam's enduring contributions

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended AIPA-46 in the context of Vietnam celebrating the 30th anniversary of its participation in ASEAN and AIPA. Therefore, at such an important moment for both Vietnam and the Association, the participation of the National Assembly leader once again affirms Vietnam's role and contribution in ASEAN and AIPA.

As Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam Tan Yang Thai affirmed, as an early and active member of AIPA, Vietnam is well-positioned to promote its role and contribute in key thematic areas. For example, within the tight organizational framework of AIPA, including General Assembly sessions and thematic mechanisms such as Young Parliamentarians of AIPA (YPA), Women Parliamentarians of AIPA (WAIPA), Standing Committee (Caucus), and Committee on Counter Narcotics and Drugs (AIPACODD), the Vietnamese delegation can make meaningful contributions and valuable perspectives on inclusive growth, digital economy, sustainable development and youth engagement.

In fact, over the past time, the Vietnamese National Assembly has actively prepared and proposed a number of contents on related topics at AIPA Committees, participated in discussions, and contributed to draft resolutions and initiatives proposed by AIPA member parliaments and the Joint Communiqué of the 46th AIPA General Assembly.

Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam Tan Yang Thai said that the revolutionary reforms that Vietnam is carrying out domestically, from digital economic development, equitable growth to environmental adaptation, can become valuable experiences in practice and legislation in ASEAN.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/quoc-hoi-malaysia-va-dai-hoi-dong-aipa-46-khi-quoc-hoi-o-tuyen-dau-de-xay-dap-tuong-lai-chung-10386784.html