The Vietnamese delegation led by Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh on June 4 attended opening session of Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue,in Singapore .

The Shangri-La Dialogue includes six plenary sessions on the subjects of emerging security challenges in Asia - Pacific; the new theories and military abilities in Asia; new power allocation in Asia and its impact on the region; hina’s international security interest, dealing with new security challenges at sea.

The Vietnamese Defence Minister is expected to deliver a speech at the plenary session on dealing with new security challenges at sea on June 5.

On June 4 afternoon , Minister Thanh hosted bilateral meetings with Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Japanese Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, on the sidelines of the dialogue.

Minister, Smith highly valued the first ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) hosted by Vietnam in October last year, and expressed his wish to further promote cooperation with Vietnam under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral defence cooperation.

Minister Thanh said he hopes that Australia will continue to provide Vietnamese officers with more scholarships for English training in the future.

During the meeting with Thanh, Japanese Minister Toshimi Kitazawa thanked the Vietnamese army and people for their supports to Japanese people to overcome difficulties after the March 11 earth and tsunami disaster in Japan .

The two ministers agreed that bilateral defence cooperation is enjoying positive developments. In discussing security issues in the East Sea , Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said he hopes that the Association of South-east Asian Nations and China will build the Code of Conduct (COC) on East Sea as early as possible and apply it immediately for peace and stability in the region.

On this occasion, Toshimi Kitazawa invited Thanh to visit Japan for signing a MoU on bilateral defence cooperation between the two nations./.