MUARA, Tuesday 22 November 2011 - The twelfth Joint Defence Working Committee (JDWC) Meeting between Australia and Brunei Darussalam was held today at the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Watermanship Training Centre Muara, Brunei Darussalam.
The Meeting was co-chaired by Haji Adi Ihram bin Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud, Acting Director of Defence Policy at the Ministry of Defence, Brunei Darussalam and Brigadier Mark Brewer, Director General, South East Asia, International Policy Division, Department of Defence of Australia. Also in attendance were senior military personnel and civilian officers from both countries and a representative from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei Darussalam.
Among the agenda discussed during the Meeting was on the progress of bilateral defence cooperation which includes military exercises, trainings and logistics between both countries. In addition, several initiatives were proposed to enhance the military and defence relations between Brunei Darussalam and Australia.
During the Meeting, Brunei Darussalam gave a brief presentation the new Defence White Paper and on lessons learnt from the working visit to the Headquarters of Joint Operations Centre in Australia. While, Australia shared their experience on its military operations in Afghanistan and updated Brunei Darussalam on the outcome and progress of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts Working Group (EWG) on Maritime Security which they co-chaired with Malaysia in July this year in Perth, Australia. The EWG on Maritime Security is one of the areas of practical cooperation under the framework of ADMM-Plus.
Prior to the meeting, Brigadier Mark Brewer has also paid a courtesy call on the Commander of RBAF, Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin.
As part of their the three-days working visit in Brunei Darussalam, the Australia’s delegation had the opportunity to visit to the Staff College at Sungai Akar Camp. During the visit, Brigadier Mark Brewer paid a courtesy call on the Commandant of the RBAF Defence Academy, Colonel Bijay Kumar Rawat.
The JDWC between Brunei Darussalam and Australia was established through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Defence Cooperation between the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and the Government of Australia signed on 10 May 1999. The MoU serves as a framework to promote defence cooperation and enhancing strong bilateral defence links between Brunei Darussalam and Australia.
The next JDWC meeting is expected to be held in Australia in 2012.