The 38th General Assembly of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) was held in Manila, Philippines on 14-19 September 2017 with the theme 'AIPA and ASEAN: Partnering for Inclusive Change'.

Prof Nishimura, the President of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) paid a courtesy call to Hon Pantaleon D. Alvarez, AIPA President and Speaker of the Philippines House of Representatives. He also attended the opening ceremony and the first plenary session on 16th of September where he introduced the five volume ASEAN@50 publication which was undertaken by ERIA and the Philippine government in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN.

Prof Nishimura also attended the Committee Meeting on Economic Matters on the 17th of September and proposed a joint-workshop on 'Fostering ASEAN's Quiet Revolution for Good Governance: Addressing Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) and Engendering Seamless Trade Facilitation and Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) for Dynamic and Inclusive Integration in ASEAN'. This workshop will be the first activity based on the MoU between ERIA and AIPA which stipulates cooperation in terms of research, capacity building programmes, as well as exchange of information regarding research outcomes and policy recommendations for economic related matters.

Prof Nishimura emphasised that NTMs have become an important focus in this region and institutionalised mechanisms like the use of regulatory impact analysis or extensive consultation with stakeholders are needed to ensure the quality of new laws and regulations. He also suggested that parliaments could have oversight roles over implementing agencies like customs and commerce ministries; the ability to review laws and support regulatory impact analysis; and the ability to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens. Lastly, he stressed the need for the joint-workshop as a good opportunity to share GRPs among the AIPA Parliamentary members and invited parliamentarians from each member country to the workshop in early 2018.