On September 23, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The Parliament of Belarus has been granted observer status in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). This decision was made at the 32nd General Assembly of AIPA held in Phnom Penh, the capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the House of Representatives of the National Assembly informed BelTA. The delegation of the National Assembly of Belarus was invited to the AIPA sessions as a guest by the Chairman of AIPA, Speaker of the Cambodian Parliament Heng Samrin. Previously, the application of the Belarusian side for granting the Parliament of Belarus observer status was approved by the Executive Committee and the Committee on Organizational Matters of AIPA. The Belarusian Parliament at the AIPA General Assembly was represented by the Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission of the House of Representatives for International Affairs and CIS Relations, Vitaly Busko. ASEAN, with a population of approximately 600 million, a combined GDP of $1.9 trillion, and stable economic growth, is one of the influential regional organizations in the world. Within this organization, there are about 20 specialized organizations and committees of various orientations, and over 300 events are held annually. The main goals of AIPA are to establish closer inter-parliamentary cooperation between the parliaments of ASEAN member states, develop contacts and mutual understanding between their members, as well as with other national, regional, and international parliamentary organizations. The members of AIPA, established in 1977 in Manila, are the following Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The parliaments of Australia, India, Canada, China, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Korea, Russia, the USA, Japan, and the European Parliament have observer status.-0-

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