At the ceremony, Vietnamese Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich received the token of the role of ADMM and ADMM+ Chairman from Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan.
Addressing the event, General Lich congratulated the Thai Ministry of Defense in general and General Prawit Wongsuwan in particular for completing the role as the Chair of ADMM and ADMM+ in 2019 with flying colors.
The Vietnamese Defense Minister affirmed that together with good operation of ADMM and ADMM+ mechanisms over the past years, ASEAN’s positive achievements in 2019 will be a good foundation for Vietnam to fulfill the role of ADMM and ADMM+ Chair next year. He also stressed that Vietnam will further develop initiatives launched by the previous chair.
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Vietnamese Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich (R) receives the token of the role of ADMM and ADMM+ Chairman from Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan. |
According to General Lich, 2020 is a very important and significant year for both ASEAN and Vietnam because it marks the fifth anniversary of the formation of the ASEAN Community.
He went on to say that for over half a century of ASEAN’s history, its member states have maintained unity in diversity, continued to connect to one another by cultural identity values, community empathy and responsibility as well as benefits in a common house.
The Vietnamese defense minister underscored that prior to rapid and complicated developments of security in the region and the world, the ability of close connectivity, especially in the ASEAN Political-Security Community, has become increasingly significant for the bloc.
General Lich said that the year 2020 also marks the 25th anniversary of Vietnam’s ASEAN membership. Since its admission to ASEAN, Vietnam has promptly integrated in and intensively participated in all cooperative fields of ASEAN, including defense-security, and made active contributions to maintaining intra-bloc solidarity, promoting cooperation among ASEAN member states and between ASEAN and its foreign partners.
Noting the first ADMM+ organized in Hanoi as an important landmark in the history of ASEAN, General Lich said that ASEAN has witnessed active contributions from its partners in improving ASEAN’s capabilities to proactively and effectively adapt to security challenges facing the region.
“After ten years, Vietnam is happy to welcome you all to the place where we established ADMM+ to continue joining hands to strengthen defense-military cooperation mechanisms, build a close-knit ASEAN Community capable of proactively adapting to outside influences, in line with the spirit of the Vietnam-chosen theme 'Cohesive and Responsive' of the ASEAN Year 2020.
“We are waiting for support from ASEAN member states and ASEAN partners to realize the theme of the ASEAN Year 2020. Vietnam’s success in 2020 is the success of all ASEAN member states and other countries in the region. Welcome to Vietnam,” General Lich concluded his speech.
Written by Thu Trang from Bangkok, Thailand
Translated by Mai Huong