New session of Myanmar's parliament begins

The ninth regular sessions of the two houses of Myanmar's parliament, House of Representatives (lower) and House of Nationalities (upper), began in Nay Pyi Taw's parliament building Monday morning.

The new sessions resumed nearly two months after the end of the eighth sessions in November 2013, Xinhua reported.

In his opening address on the first day of the lower house session, Speaker of the House U Shwe Mann called for discussions and adoption of the state budget bill for 2014-15 fiscal year and other important laws, sources in the parliament said.

Shwe Mann appreciated efforts of some MPs to seek development funds for their respective constituency regions during the adjournment period before the resumption of the present session.

The session also approved some MPs' foreign trips during the period including that of Shwe Mann to Japan, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The two houses' separate sessions were followed by that of the union parliament comprising both houses, in which presentations were made on national planning bill (2014-15), taxation bills, media law in dispute and special economic zone bill, the sources added.

Besides, approval was sought from the union parliament for Myanmar's injection of $100,000 capital for the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

U Shwe Mann is also speaker of the union parliament.

The last eighth regular session lasted from Oct 1 to Nov 15, 2013.