The fourth ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-4) convened in Hanoi on May 11, seeking ways to boost defence cooperation for a region of stability and development.

Opening the event, Vietnamese Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh said after two years since its inception, ADMM has made remarkable progress in building confidence, consolidating unity, and reinforcing self-strengthening in the region as well as raising the group’s prestige in the international arena.

He affirmed that defence-military cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally, within ASEAN has been taking place positively and qualitatively to promote integration and mobilise all resources in dealing with non-traditional security issues in the region.

As security in ASEAN is closely associated with that of Asian-Pacific region and the globe as well, ASEAN’s defence-security cooperation with its counterparts and official dialogue partners is very important, General Thanh stressed.

He stated that that cooperation is an urgent and objective requirement to ensure that all ASEAN member countries will live in a peace and stable environment and develop sustainably.

Referring meetings between ASEAN and their partners’ defence ministers (ADMM +), he said the formula can be considered as a supplement to help increasingly perfect the regional security cooperation mechanism with ADMM playing the key role in leading a new security structure in the region.

During the meeting, from May 10-13, ADMM-4 delegates will be updated with recent developments in ASEAN cooperation, and the results of the seventh informal meeting of ASEAN Defence Commanders (March 24-27) and the fourth meeing of ASEAN Defence Senior Officials (April 27-29) in Hanoi.

Apart from sharing their viewpoints on the security situation in the region, the ASEAN Defence Ministers will introduce their respective countries’ defence policies.

Looking toward the organisation the ADMM+, the ministers in this meeting will discuss the two important documents – “ADMM+: structure and components”, and “ADMM+: formality and procedures” to realise the idea.

In addition, they will hear a report on the process of implementing ideas and initiatives of such member countries as Indonesia , Malaysia and Thailand and will pass and sign a joint statement of the ADMM-4.

Regarded as the highest-level forum of ASEAN defence leaders, ADMM provides the ASEAN defence channel with a necessary foundation for open and constructive dialogues regarding strategic issues at the ministerial level, as well as promoting real cooperation between armed forces in the group./.