Phnom Penh: The 42nd ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly is underway. It runs for three days and will end on Wednesday. It’s being held virtually under the theme "Promoting Parliamentary Cooperation in Digital Integration”.

The three-day virtual conference aims to gather voices of the people of ASEAN, in advancing the goals of a single ASEAN Community. Cambodia is represented by the President of the National Assembly, Heng Samrin. The assembly convenes every year to adopt policy initiatives and propose legislative measures dealing with common regional issues. The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly represents the legislatures of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Covid-19 and the post-pandemic recovery feature high on this year’s agenda, as the region races to vaccinate its populations in the hope of fully reopening regional borders.