The four-day 25th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) ended in Phnom Penh on Thursday after signing a joint communique by leaders of the AIPO delegations.

In his closing remarks, Cambodian National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh, also the current AIPO president, called the meeting "fruitful," and said it had intensive discussions on various issues of importance to AIPO and ASEAN.

In the joint communique, the assembly called on the member states of ASEAN to "implement the ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action as early as possible, once it is adopted by the ASEAN leaders," so as to enhance greater peace, stability and security in the ASEAN region.

In addition to the important topics of the ASEAN Security Community and the Asia-Europe Meeting, the lawmakers also discussed cultural and eco-tourism to stimulate economic growth. Moreover, the meeting urged the ASEAN member countries to promote economic cooperation especially in agricultural production in ASEAN's new member countries to reduce the gaps between the richer and the poor.

The assembly, meanwhile, urged the ASEAN summit to consider the establishment of an ASEAN Anti-Poverty Fund which was endorsed by the 24th AIPO General Assembly.

Also in the joint communique were the combating of the drug menace and the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. The ASEAN lawmakers urged all governments to develop a common minimum standard of treatment to be made available to all HIV-positive people in Southeast Asia, and re-examine their HIV/AIDS programs to ensure that poor and vulnerable groups had adequate access to information about prevention and treatment programs.

More than 300 delegates from inside and outside the AIPO took part in the four-day meeting between Sept. 13 and 16. ASEAN members of Brunei and Myanmar attended the meeting as special observers, because they do not have functioning legislatures.

Dialogues with observers from outside ASEAN, including China, Japan and South Korea, were focused on regional security and economic cooperation including trade, the environment and information technology.

The meeting announced that the 26th General Assembly of AIPO should be held on Sept. 4-9, 2005 in Vientiane, Laos.

A separate meeting of Women Parliamentarians of AIPO (WAIPO) was held on Sept. 12 before the assembly opened, which discussed efforts to enhance women's economic security and the role of parliaments in combating the trafficking of women and children in Southeast Asia.

It was the first time for Cambodia to host such meeting. Cambodia became the eighth full member of AIPO at the 20th General Assembly in Manila in 1999.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2004)