The meeting was attended virtually by Defense Ministers and leaders of Defense Ministries of ASEAN member states and ASEAN Deputy Secretary- General Hoang Anh Tuan. The hub in Hanoi saw the presence of Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense’s functional bodies, ambassadors and defense attaches of ASEAN member nations to Vietnam.
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General Lich (center, the first line) chairs ADMM-14 |
In his opening remarks, General Lich expressed his belief that the virtual form of the meeting does not affect the quality of ASEAN defense cooperation, but demonstrates the timely response of ASEAN member countries to new situational developments.
On behalf of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, General Lich thanked the defense ministries of ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretariat for their support for Vietnam during its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.
The Vietnamese defense minister said that the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed millions of lives worldwide and badly affected economies all around the world, and put global geopolitics at risk of transformation. In addition, many ASEAN member states had to face continuous natural disasters which left behind huge human and property losses and long-term effects on each country’s socio-economic development.
He added that regional peace and stability have become more fragile in the face of terrorism, transnational crimes, as well as threats to regional maritime security, cyber security and water resources security.
Facing the aforementioned difficulties, ASEAN member states have shown their cohesive and responsive spirit in line with ASEAN’s 2020 theme, stressed General Lich.
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Delegates attend ADMM-14 virtually |
According to the Vietnamese defense chief, even though various ASEAN-led defense-military activities have been postponed or held virtually; the defense cooperation among ASEAN member states has still enjoyed strong development and reaped achievements, especially in COVID-19 prevention and control. He emphasized that at the 37th ASEAN Summit, a series of initiatives were approved, such as the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund, the Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies, the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework and its Implementation Plan.
Lich confirmed that the military is the core force in the fight against COVID-19 of each country and that ASEAN member states have maintained defense cooperation under digital platforms.
Lich underlined that on the basis of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ joint statement on defense cooperation against disease outbreak issued in February this year, ASEAN militaries have shared experience, provided medical supplies for each other and cooperated in migration control and development of SAR-CoV2 test kits, and COVID-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, ASEAN military medical forces successfully organized an online joint exercise on COVID-19 prevention and control in May.
At the meeting, delegates discussed and approved a series of initiatives on enhancing ASEAN defense cooperation, the three-year action plan of ADMM in the 2020-2022 period, and the joint statement of ASEAN Defense Ministers on defense cooperation for a cohesive and responsive ASEAN.
The delegates also discussed preparations for the ADMM+, which will be held virtually on December 10.
Translated by Mai Huong