The National Assembly Palace, Phnom Penh, 8 September 2016

H.E. Dr. Nguon Nhel, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 9^th APA Plenary Session, in the morning of 8 September 2016, chaired a meeting to examine the preparations made for the upcoming First and Second Executive Council Meeting of the 9^th APA Plenary Session, which will be hosted by the parliament of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2016.

The parliament of the Kingdom of Cambodia is scheduled to organize the First Executive Council Meeting in the late September 2016, from 25-28 September 2016, in capital Phnom Penh. Afterwards, it will host the Second Executive Council Meeting on the occasion of the 9^th APA Plenary Session, which will take place from 27 November to 2 December 2016 in Cambodia’s cultural province of Siem Reap, the land of famed Angkor Wat temple.

Participants attending the work outcome review meeting held here in the morning of 8 September 2016 were from inter-ministries, stakeholders and those involved in organizing the event, which focused mainly on preparations for the host of the upcoming First Executive Council Meeting. Relevant sub-committees have informed the meeting of their working outcomes that have been almost complete and are well underway in all sections, especially, concerning documentation preparations, which are well underway for APA delegations participating in this regional meeting. Protocol team is ready to prepare backdrops and seat arrangements; and security team is now in good cooperation with concerned authorities to beef up safety for the Asian parliamentary delegations, while information department is well-prepared to install sound and image systems at the meeting venue. The official homepage of the First Executive Council Meeting is created to keep the general public informed of the proceedings of the meeting in collaboration with both private and public mass media.

As for the external aspects, we have sent out invitations to all APA member parliaments, and so far received confirmations from APA member delegates to attend the said meeting, namely Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Afghanistan, Russia and Sri Lanka.

It is emphasized that according to the past practice, parliamentarians or speakers of parliaments from 15 member parliaments among 45 countries in Asia are cordially invited to attend the 1^st Executive Council Meeting of the APA.

On the occasion, H.E. Dr. Nguon Nhel, expressed his appreciation to their excellencies and other civil servants for their tireless efforts expended during the past months to make the meeting happen with the aim of promoting the national image. He instructed leaders of all sections to continue to provide their services to the nation through bolstering their all-time good cooperation so as to bring about success to the 1^st Executive Council Meeting.

Photos and article by courtesy of the Information Department