Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with Secretary General of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Siti Rozaimeriyanti Dato Haji Abdul Rahman as part of her business trip to Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

APA reports that the Press and Public Relations Department of the Milli Majlis released information about this.

At the meeting, the high level of cooperation between the Azerbaijan National Assembly and the ASEAN PA was emphasized, and it was recalled that the Azerbaijan National Assembly received observer status in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly last year.

It was noted that usually the request of the parliaments to get observer status for the organization is reviewed within 2-3 years.

However, Azerbaijan's request was immediately answered positively.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova also pointed out that as the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Parliamentary Network is interested in establishing active relations with other parliamentary organizations, including the ASEAN PA.

Speaking about the activities of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network, the Chairman of the Milli Majlis said that the important initiatives of President Ilham Aliyev as the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement are supported by the international community.

The international interest in the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was created at the initiative of the head of our state, is growing more and more.

He informed about the establishment of the network in Madrid in 2021, the first conferences held in Baku last year, as well as the work done in preparation for the second conference to be held tomorrow.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova pointed out that

The Parliamentary Network also expands cooperation with international parliamentary organizations.

Currently, the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network has received observer status in 3 international parliamentary organizations.

These are the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab Parliament.

The Secretary General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly highly appreciated Azerbaijan's successful chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and also said that the steps taken by our country in the direction of the institutional development of the Movement's Parliamentary Network were appreciated by the wider international community.

At the meeting, opinions were exchanged on other issues of mutual interest.

At the end of the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.