Your Majesty; Excellencies; Honorable Pantaleon Alvarez, President of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and head of the AIPA delegation; heads of delegation of the AIPA Member Parliaments; Speakers; Deputy Speakers, and the Secretary General of AIPA; ladies and gentlemen

It is my honor and privilege to welcome all of you to Manila for the ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with Representatives of the AIPA.

Our interface is significant in a number of ways. 2017 is a milestone year for the ASEAN as we commemorate our golden anniversary. This is also auspicious as AIPA celebrates its 40^th Founding Anniversary.

The interface between ASEAN leaders and AIPA reflects the commitment of the executive and legislative bodies of the ASEAN Member States to the community-building process.

Through its law-making functions and accelerating the process of ratification of ASEAN agreements, AIPA plays an integral role in ensuring that the regional agreements are carried out and implemented at the national level so that the benefits of integration are felt by our peoples in the region.

We are interested in hearing AIPA’s views on a number of issues at matters of significance as they are integral to our continuing efforts in realizing the ASEAN Vision 2025. 

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