PANO - The ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group (ADSOM WG) on the first ADMM Plus (ADMM+) started today in Dalat City, Lam Dong Province.

This is the first meeting in preparation for the first ADMM+.

Speaking at the meeting, Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence, confirmed that ADMM+ must be a dynamic structure with a special model and a practical cooperation mode, so that it can contribute its part to the regional peace and stability.

“I believe that with the delegates’ insight, we will figure out potential, prospects and cooperation orientations in the framework of the ADMM+, in order to guarantee that ASEAN can learn from foreign experiences, competences as well as other resources. In turn, partners outside the region can see that ASEAN will play an effective and active role in a broader security structure”, said Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh.

During the meeting, chaired by the Colonel Vu Tien Trong, Head of the Institute for Military International Relations, the participants will discuss ADMM+ agendas and Action Programs, approve the 1st ADMM+ Joint Statement and the Meeting Chairman’s Statement, and contribute to a draft “Potentials, Prosperities, and Practical Cooperation Orientations in the framework of the ADMM+”.

The first ADMM+ is scheduled to take place in October in Hanoi with the participation of Defence Ministers of 10 ASEAN member countries, ASEAN’s eight Dialogue Partners, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the USA.

Reported by Bao Trung

Translated by Mai Huong