ADSOM WG on regional defence issues
THE Asean Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group (ADSOM WG) commenced yesterday at the Centrepoint Hotel in Gadong. The meeting was chaired by Haji Adi Ihram Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud, Acting Director and Directorate of Defence Policy at the Ministry of Defence.
The meeting is attended by some 42 participants from the Asean member states namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as representatives from the Asean Secretariat.
Asean delegates in a group photo at the ADSOM WG meeting
According to a press release, the meeting discussed and considered several new initiatives, which will further contribute towards the progress and wider development of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).
The agenda continues today to discuss the necessary preparations for the ADSOM-Plus WG Meeting that will be held on February 7. This meeting will bring together the ten Asean member States, along with Dialogue Partners of Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and USA. They will also discuss the preparations of the ADSOM and the ADSOM-Plus in April 2013. The Asean Secretariat is also expected to brief the ADSOM WG on the guidelines for hosting the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting, the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus and related activities.
The next meeting will be the ADSOM-Plus WG after the Asean Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group concludes today. These two meetings mark the beginning of a series of meetings towards the 7th ADMM and 2nd ADMM-Plus that will be held on May 7 and August 29 respectively.
The ADMM is the highest defence mechanism within Asean and it facilitates the Asean Defence Ministers to discuss and exchange views on current defence and security issues and challenges faced in the region.
