The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense will organize four online meetings, namely the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus Working Group (ADSOM+ WG), the ASEAN Regional Forum Defense Officials' Dialogue (ARF DOD), ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus (ADSOM+), and the ASEAN Regional Forum Security Policy Conference (ASPC).
As scheduled, the ADSOM+ WG is organized on June 30 with an aim to build a draft agenda and map out cooperative measures to report to the ADSOM+, which takes place in August this year towards the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM).
During the ADSOM+, delegates will exchange views on international and regional issues of common concern, particularly the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, they will discuss missions of the ADMM+ and major activities of the host country during the ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020.
Meanwhile, participants to the ARF DOD, slated for July 1, will discuss cooperative measures to enhance military-defense cooperation ahead of the ASPC. International and regional matters of mutual interests, defense cooperation within the ARF and several proposals of the host country to improve the ARF’s position, and the connection between the ARF and the ADMM+ will also be discussed at the ASPC. According to the organizers, Vietnamese Minister of National Defense General Ngo Xuan Lich will attend and deliver a keynote speech at the ASPC.
At the meeting, a representative of the Department of External Affairs also passed along information about major activities related to Vietnam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship Year, including the conference “Women’s role and UN peacekeeping operations” in August, the host country’s reception programs, and the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+).
Additionally, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense announced plans to hold the first Vietnam International Defense Expo on the sidelines of the ADMM+.
Translated by Trung Thanh