Hanoi (VNA) - The 14th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting(ADMM), the 7th ADMM Plus (ADMM+), and related events are taking placevia videoconference from December 9-10 under the chair of Vietnam.

Vietnam has actively joined in the cooperation mechanisms, making active and importantcontributions to promoting the development of the ADMM and maintaining peace, stability,and cooperation for the prosperity of the region.

The country has proposed vital initiatives, including a commitment to “not use forcefirst in dispute settlement”, strengthening naval cooperation in the region throughjoint patrols, and establishing hotlines among regional navies and defence leadersof ASEAN member countries.

Vietnam has also supported initiatives in the spheres of combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, border management, and enhancing ASEAN’s centrality incooperation with ASEAN partners. These efforts have created a basis for promotingVietnam’s initiatives and activities in 2020 as the ASEAN Chair.

It has strongly promoted and contributed significantly to setting up ADMM+, andsuccessfully hosted the 1st ADMM+ , which approved five priority cooperationareas: maritime security, peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief.

The 2nd ADMM+ , hosted by Brunei in 2013, approved the sixth priorityarea for cooperation proposed by Vietnam, related to humanitarian mine action.

Initiated in 2006, the ADMM is the highest defence consultation and cooperationmechanism in ASEAN and an important component of the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC). It provides a framework for defence-security dialogue and consultation on strategicand defence-security issues, contributing to forming a foundation for promotingpractical cooperation between the armed forces of regional countries.

The organisation of the ADMM is a new step in the framework of defence-securitycooperation, which enjoys particular attention by ASEAN member countries as it relatesto peace and stability in the region and the national security of each country.

The first ADMM (ADMM-1) was hosted by Malaysia in 2006. Vietnam chaired ADMM-4 in2010, focusing on measures to enhance ASEAN defence cooperation for a stable anddeveloped bloc. The most recent meeting was chaired by Thailand in 2019, with thetheme “Sustainable security”.

Fifteen initiatives have been implemented within the framework of the ADMM,focusing on promoting military and civil cooperation to cope with non-traditionalchallenges, defence industry cooperation, defence exchange, logistics support, directcommunications infrastructure, military medical and education-training cooperation,humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and border management support, amongothers./.