By Sim YH
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, NOV 22 – The 11th ASEAN Plus Defense Ministers’ Meeting (11th ADMM-Plus) was successfully held at the National Convention Center, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) from 19 to 22 November.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense, here, the meeting was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Lao PDR, His Excellency General Chansamone Chanyalath and attended by Ministers of Defense and representatives from ADMM-Plus member countries, the secretariat ASEAN and Timor Leste as observers of ADMM, ADMM-Plus and related meetings.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Second Minister of Defence, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof led the Brunei Darussalam delegation to the meeting.
Also participating in the meeting was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General (Retired) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Alirupendi bin Haji Perudin, as the Head of the Meeting of Senior Defense Officers ASEAN-Plus (ADSOM-Plus) for Brunei Darussalam accompanied by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Brunei Darussalam to Lao PDR, His Excellency Haji Roslan bin Haji Yacub and officials from the Ministry of Defense.
At the meeting, the 11th ADMM-Plus listened to a report from the ASEAN Secretariat on the latest developments in ASEAN in addition to discussions on the regional and international security environment, where ADMM-Plus members reiterated their commitment to peace and stability and acknowledged the important role of ASEAN in strengthening unity, practical cooperation and multilateralism.
The meeting also adopted the Joint Statement of the ASEAN-Plus Defense Ministers’ Meeting regarding Resilience to Climate-Related and Other Natural Disasters, Including Through Best Practices Exchange and Capacity Building.
In addition to the 11th ADMM-Plus Meeting, the ASEAN-China Defense Ministers’ Informal Meeting was also held and co-chaired by His Excellency General Chansamone Chanyalath and the Minister of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Admiral Dong Jun.
This was followed by the 50th Anniversary Celebration of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations and the 35th Anniversary Celebration of ASEAN-Republic of Korea Dialogue Relations as well as the handover ceremony of the ADMM chairmanship from Lao PDR to Malaysia which marks the end of Lao PDR’s ADMM chairmanship for 2024 .
