A ceremony recently was held virtually following the conclusion of the 7th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) which saw the handover to Brunei Darussalam as Chairman of the ADMM in 2021.
The ceremony began with remarks from Minister of National Defence of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam General Ngo Xuan Lich followed by the handing over of the ADMM Chairmanship to Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to Vietnam Pengiran Haji Sahari bin Pengiran Haji Salleh on behalf of Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof.
The Minister of Defence II congratulated Vietnam for the successful chairmanship under the theme of ‘Defence Cooperation for a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN’. The theme and key priorities of Brunei as Chair of the ADMM in 2021 is ‘We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper’.
As the ADMM will commemorate its 15th anniversary next year, Brunei aims to strengthen the platform in the spirit of ASEAN centrality under its chairmanship.
As the chair of ASEAN in 2021, the Ministry of Defence (MinDef) will be chairing ADMM and its related meetings, while the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) will be chairing ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting (ACDFM) and its related meetings virtually.
Earlier, General Ngo Xuan Lich chaired the ADMM-Plus attended by Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi. Acoompanying the Minister of Defence II were Permanent Secretary at the MinDef Brigadier General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Shahril Anwar bin Haji Ma’awiah and MinDef’s Director of Defence Policy Haji Adi Ihram bin Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud.
The meeting began with a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the ADMM-Plus with a video presentation showcasing the achievements of ADMM-Plus. It was followed by speeches from the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, General Ngo Xuan Lich and ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi.
During the meeting, the ASEAN and Plus Defence Ministers adopted the Joint Declaration by the ADMM-Plus Defence Ministers on Strategic Security Vision of the ADMM-Plus. The ASEAN-Japan Informal Meeting was also held following the 7th ADMM-Plus Meeting.
