At the meeting, on behalf of the MND’s leaders, Gen. Chien congratulated Veerle Nouwens on being appointed as IISS-Asia’s Executive Director and believed that under her leadership, IISS-Asia would further develop. The Vietnamese defense leader highly valued the position and role of IISS in general and the significance of the IISS-Asia-organized Shangri-La Dialogue in particular.
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Sr. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien receives Executive Director of IISS-Asia Veerle Nouwens. |
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister affirmed that the Shangri-La Dialogue is an important forum for policymakers to present their perspectives on emerging international and regional issues and to clarify their countries’ defense and security policies. It also provides an opportunity for defense leaders and military officials from various countries to have bilateral sidelines meetings, exchange and share their views, and connect with business partners.
Over the past 20 years, since the Shangri-La Dialogue was first organized in 2002, the MND has consistently sent delegations to participate in the event. Notably in 2013, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung delivered a keynote speech at the dialogue. Additionally, the MND’s leaders have made important speeches during the plenary sessions of the dialogue. Most recently, in 2022, the Vietnamese Defense Minister attended and delivered a speech, themed “Strengthening defense capacity to safeguard the Fatherland,” at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue.
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Veerle Nouwens hands over a letter to invite the Vietnamese defense leaders to join the 21st edition of Shangri-La Dialogue to Gen. Chien. |
Gen. Chien expected that in the coming time the MND will have the opportunity to welcome leaders and researchers from IISS to Vietnam in order to exchange perspectives, share experience, explore possibilities for cooperation in academic research between IISS and Vietnam's defense research institutions. He affirmed that the MND will facilitate its research agencies to enhance collaboration with IISS and actively send delegations to participate in activities organized by IISS Asia based on IISS’s invitations.
For her part, the Executive Director of IISS-Asia thanked the Vietnamese defense leaders for the reception and emphasized that IISS is an institution with extensive expertise in international strategic research and rich experience in organizing workshops and international conferences, notably the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. The head of IISS-Asia expressed her commitment to building a strong and enduring cooperative relationship with Vietnam during her tenure. In 2024, the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue is scheduled to take place from May 31 to June 2 in Singapore.
On this occasion, on behalf of IISS, Veerle Nouwens handed over a letter to invite Vietnamese defense leaders to participate and deliver a speech at the upcoming dialogue.
Translated by Tran Hoai