Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong chaired a meeting held in Hanoi on Monday to review preparations for the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU–132) that is scheduled for March 2015.

At the meeting, Phong, deputy head of the Steering Board and head of the Organizing Board of the IPU–132, asked relevant agencies to prepare all resources, especially personnel, to meet professional and foreign language requirements.

She also requested that the IPU’s sub-committees step up their assigned tasks to ensure preparations are in progress.

She also said that the hosting of IPU–132 is a crucial hallmark in the Vietnamese legislature’s external affairs during its 13th tenure. The IPU, which was established in 1889, now has 163 members and 10 associate members. Vietnam joined the IPU in 1979.

The IPU–132 Organizing Board consists of officials of the NA, the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, the Ministries of Public Security, National Defense, Finance, Culture-Sports-Tourism, Information and Communications, Health, Transport, the State Audit Office, People’s Committees of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam News Agency, Vietnam Television, and Radio the Voice of Vietnam.