By Salleh Ahmad & Marina Abdullah Sitau
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, Monday, 28 May 2012 - Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd.) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office had several bilateral meetings with His Excellency General Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Cambodia; His Excellency Lieutenant General Douangchay Phichith, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Laos; His Excellency Lieutenant General Hla Min, Minister of Defence, Myanmar; and His Excellency Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence, Republic of Singapore at the Intercontinental Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd.) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin is here representing Brunei Darussalam to the 6th ASEAN Defence Ministers ’ Meeting (6th ADMM) that will be held at the Peace Palace, Prime Minister’s Office, Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 29 May 2012.
During the separate bilateral meetings, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar expressed his pleasure on the good defence relations that existed between Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore. Yang Berhormat Pehin also congratulated His Excellency General Tea Banh for Cambodia’s success in organizing and steering ADMM and expressed Brunei Darussalam’s appreciation for sharing their experiences in organizing the meeting which Brunei Darussalam will host in 2013.
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore expressed their full support for Brunei Darussalam’s Chairmanship of the ADMM and ADMM-Plus Meeting for 2013, including the ADMM-Plus exercise in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)/Military Medicine (MM) that will be held in Brunei Darussalam in June 2013. They also pledged their support for the ASEAN Chief of Navy Meeting and the ASEAN Army Chiefs Meetings and Rifle Meet to be held in Brunei Darussalam in September and October 2012 respectively.
Among other significant matters, Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore agreed to further strengthen defence cooperation through more interactions and dialogue, as well as trainings and other collaborative efforts. Towards that end, Brunei Darussalam iterated its offer to the respective countries’ military officers to participate in a number of courses conducted by the Ministry of Defence. Brunei Darussalam also took the opportunity to extend its invitation to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore for the ADMM and ADMM-Plus Meetings in Brunei Darussalam in 2013.