House of Representatives Granted Observing Member Status within Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The 41^st session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), held in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, concluded its works on Thursday, September 10^th, 2020, by announcing the approval of the House of Representatives as observing member within the bodies of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. The approval is an unprecedented achievement as the Moroccan Parliament is the first African Parliament to become a member of an Asian parliamentary organization.

This event has been welcomed by the member States, who lauded the accession of the Moroccan Parliament to this Assembly, its openness to multilateral parliamentary organizations, and its keenness to extend bridges of cooperation with the Parliaments of Southeast Asian countries in particular.

In his address on this occasion, Speaker of House of Representatives Habib El Malki noted his firm conviction of the importance of parliamentary cooperation, especially between the Parliaments of Southern countries. Also, he stressed that the accession of the House of Representatives to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly would benefit both geopolitical regions. In this respect, he recalled Morocco's pioneering role in Africa under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the contribution of the House of Representatives to the efforts of consolidating South-South cooperation and achieving mutual development.

Also, Mr. El Malki highlighted that promoting parliamentary rapprochement with ASEAN countries reflects the strong will of the Kingdom of Morocco to open new cooperation horizons and crowns the journey started by Morocco in 2016 by concluding a friendship and cooperation agreement with ASEAN, and the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding between Morocco's Embassy in Thailand and the Mekong River Commission, which involves partners like China, and other Member States like Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar, and is one of the biggest economic and political communities in Southeast Asia. The memorandum enabled Morocco to become the first African and Arab country to be granted the status of partner within this organization.

Speaker of House of Representatives Habib El Malki extended a request for the accession of the House of Representatives to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly as observing member in 2018 during his participation in the 39^th session of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. Last year, and during his participation in the 40^th session of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in the Thai capital Bangkok, the House’s Speaker renewed his request. On that occasion, he affirmed the high position occupied by the Assembly as an important parliamentary platform and essential pillar in consolidating parliamentary cooperation between the region’s countries. Meanwhile, he expressed Morocco’s aspiration to upgrade the institutional cooperation with this organization, with whose members the Kingdom entertains long-standing distinguished relations.

It should be noted that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an economic and political association established in 1967. It gathers ten countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, and Cambodia. The Association aims to accelerate economic growth, achieve social and cultural development in Southeast Asian countries, and create a free-trade zone between its member States.