Cooperation in security and national defence amongst ASEAN member countries has helped to build up trust and solidarity in the region, said a senior Vietnamese defence official.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence, made the comment at the 4 th ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM-4) that took place in Hanoi on April 28.

As the chair of the meeting, Vinh stressed that ASEAN has become an inter-governmental organisation and plays an increasingly important role in the international arena.

Cooperation between ASEAN members has been expanded into every area, meeting each member’s socio-economic development, said Vinh, adding that ASEAN has started to enter a new phase of more practical cooperation to overcome security challenges, especially in new trans-national security issues that are emerging in the region.

The chair said that the meetings of defence officials, including ADSOM, are indispensable to reach the objective of creating the ASEAN Security-Political Community by 2015.

ASEAN has put forward an updated long-term strategic vision of a regional security structure, that includes ASEAN and its dialogue partners, Vinh said, confirming the interactive relationship between the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific security.

According to Vinh, the meetings between ASEAN and their partners’ defence ministers (ADMM +) will play an important role in maintaining peace and stability in the region in the future.

On addressing at the meeting, Doctor Tormsak Chalermpalanupap, Special Assistant to the ASEAN General Secretary, spoke highly of cooperative relations in defence matters amongst ASEAN member countries in a bid to build a prosperous and developed ASEAN Community.

In present times, ASEAN needs to continue strengthening internal relations and expanding cooperative ties and dialogue with external partners for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

The ADSOM-4 will discuss topics related to the ADMM+, such as the structure and formality of the meeting. The ADSOM-4 will also consider documents for the ADMM-4, including an agenda and a draft joint statement./.