By Selina Farahiyah Teo, SHHBIDSS
THE RIZQUN INTERNATIONAL HOTEL, Thursday 2 February 2012 – The Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (SHHBIDSS) conducted its 4th East Asia Security Outlook (EASO) Seminar at the Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong.
EASO is an annual seminar conducted by SHHBIDSS since 2009. For this year, there were a total of 12 speakers made up of international and local experts on defence, strategic and security issues in East Asia. The seminar aimed to give a broad understanding of the current strategic and security environment, a deeper awareness on maritime security and share defence and military trends and responses.
The seminar touched on ‘Asia’s Strategic Relations and Cooperation’ where it looked at the overview of strategic relations in East Asia and the developments in ASEAN in terms of the contribution of defence sector in realising the ASEAN Community, the challenges and way forward post ASEAN Charter as well as to have first hand information on the economic initiatives undertaken in ASEAN.
Recognising the importance of taking a comprehensive approach on Maritime Security, the seminar discussed traditional and non-traditional threats with focus on piracy, maritime terrorism and developments in South China Sea. It also addressed defence and military cooperation and developments, including the roles of the military in conflict particularly in Counter-Insurgency, Cyber Security and trends in the East Asian defence economics.
The seminar was attended by representatives from various government ministries, tertiary institutions and private organisations.