Chairperson of the Dialogue session was presided
by Hon. Haji Zulkipli bin Haji Abd. Hamid, Member of
the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam. The
dialogue session began at 2.30 pm, at Indera Samudera
Hall 3, The Empire Hotel & Country Club, Brunei Darussalam, on Friday, 20thSeptember 2013.
The dialogue meeting was attended by the following
delegates:
DELEGATES OF OBSERVER: CANADA
1)Hon.
Mr. Donald Neil Plett (HOD)
2)Hon.
Mr. Daniel Lang
3)Mr.
Roger Préfontaine
DELEGATES OF AIPA MEMBER COUNTRIES
Brunei Darussalam
1)Hon.
Mrs. Datin Paduka Hajjah Salbiah binti Haji Sulaiman
Cambodia
1)Hon.
Mr. Mam Bunneang
2)Hon.
Mr. Som Savuth
Indonesia
1)Hon.
Mr. Andi Azhar Cakra Wijaya
Lao PDR
1)Hon.
Mr. Bounpone Sisoulath
2)Hon.
Phosy Temmerath
Malaysia
1)Hon.
Mrs. Datuk Chin Su Phin
The Philippines
1)H.E.
Pangalian M. Balindong. (Deputy Speaker/HOD)
2)Hon.
Mr. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza
3)Hon.
Mr. Nicanor M. Briones
Singapore
1)Hon.
Ms. Lee Li Lian
Thailand
1)Hon.
Dr. Vitthaya Inala
Vietnam
1)Hon.
Dang Thi My Huong
The Meeting discussed the following issues:
1)Establishing ASEAN Community 2015: The Meeting underlines ASEAN
Community 2015 that is fast approaching. Therefore, much of the ASEAN's efforts
have been focused on implementing regional commitments across all three pillars
of the ASEAN Community. The Meeting also views that AIPA as ASEAN's counterpart
as well as ASEAN's Dialogue Partners essentially Canada
have played important roles in supporting and realizing the ASEAN Community by
2015 and beyond.
2)ASEAN Connectivity: The Meeting affirms the need to enhance the
ASEAN Connectivity by synergizing efforts at the regional, sub-regional and
national level that will benefit all ASEAN Member States and contribute to
ASEAN Community building. The Meeting also underscores the idea of ASEAN's
Connectivity that is aimed at leveraging the strategic location of the ASEAN
region given that a well connected ASEAN will promote economic growth, narrow
development gaps, enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN, contribute to the
promotion of deeper ties among ASEAN and connect ASEAN Member States with the
rest of the world.
3)ASEAN Parliament: The Meeting articulates that AIPA has been
studying about the strength of ASEAN for establishing ASEAN Community in 2015.
Interestingly, the Meeting poses a question to AIPA Member Parliaments and
Canadian Parliament about the possibility of establishing ASEAN Parliament. The
Meeting also notes the comparison between European Parliament and the expected
ASEAN Parliament. The Meeting argues that, among others, ASEAN is stronger than
Europe in terms of population.
4)More Enhanced Partnership between AIPA and Canadian Parliament: The
Meeting finds that AIPA works are commendable and notes that ASEAN is the 7th
largest trading partners as a group for Canada. The Canadian delegation views
that education is an important area of cooperation between Canada and ASEAN.
There have been 22 students from Brunei Darussalam studying in Canada this
year. On the other side, Canada has received more than 80.000 students from
China. Therefore, more ASEAN students studying in Canada is much encouraged. In
addition, the Canadian delegation highlights more fields of cooperation, among
others, clean energy and aerospace.
5)The Meeting also highlights the framework of Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) that has assisted many programs in ASEAN Member
States, among others, agricultural land maintenance and parliamentary capacity
building in Cambodia, as well as people capacity building through Public
Partnership Program in the Philippines.
As there were no further comments from any of
delegates, the Chairperson called the dialogue session to a close at 4 pm.
The Report of the Dialogue with Canada was presented to the 34th
AIPA General Assembly.
HON.
HAJI ZULKIPLI BIN HAJI ABD. HAMID CHAIRPERSON
