KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Thursday 12 February 2015 – The ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM) was successfully held today at the JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Meeting was chaired by Dato’ Sri Abdul Rahim bin Mohamad Radzi, Secretary General, Ministry of Defence Malaysia, and participated by all ADMM Member States as well as representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat. The Head of Delegation from Brunei Darussalam was Datin Paduka Hajah Suriyah binte Haji Umar, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, and accompanied by Haji Adi Ihram bin Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud, the ADSOM Working Group (ADSOM WG) leader for Brunei Darussalam, as well as officers from the Directorate of Defence Policy and the Joint Force Headquarter Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
During the Meeting, ASEAN Defence Senior Officers heard updates on the ADSOM WG meeting that was held a day earlier on 11 February 2015, and were briefed on the progress of the ASEAN defence cooperation.
Brunei Darussalam briefed the ADSOM on the successful implementation of the first ADIP in Brunei Darussalam in 2014, which aims at networking and strengthening cooperation among the young officers in the military and defence establishments. The Meeting also welcomed the hosting of the second ADIP by Malaysia this year.
Brunei Darussalam updated the meeting on the progress made on the Establishment of Logistics Support Framework initiative, whereby among others, the positive progress in developing the Logistics Support Framework manual as guidelines towards effective execution of logistics in ASEAN multinational response operations. Brunei Darussalam also announced the plan to validate the manual through activities such as a Table-Top Exercise, scheduled to be held in Brunei Darussalam in the second or third quarter of 2015.
The meeting also commended the efforts and progress achieved in Establishing a Direct Communications Link (DCL) in the ADMM Process, aimed at establishing practical measures that reduce vulnerability to miscalculations, and avoid misunderstanding and undesirable incidents at sea. The Meeting welcomed the outcome of the “First Technical Workshop on Establishing a DCL in the ADMM Process”, held on 25 to 29 August 2014 in Bandar Seri Begawan; and the “First Ad Hoc Working Group Meeting on the Establishment of a DCL in the ADMM Process”, held on 20 to 24 October 2014 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
ADSOM has also considered new ADMM and ADMM-Plus initiatives in the spirit of enhancing and strengthening the defence and military relationships among the Member States.
Datin Hjh Suriyah also had an opportunity to hold a bilateral call with Dato’ Sri Abdul Rahim bin Mohamad Radzi, Secretary General, Ministry of Defence Malaysia, on 11 February 2015. During the bilateral call, Brunei Darussalam congratulated Malaysia on the ADMM and ADMM-Plus Chairmanship this year, and discussed bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.
The ADSOM-Plus Meeting will convene on 13 February 2015, participated by ASEAN Senior Defence Officials and their counterparts from the Plus countries, including Australia, People’s Republic of China, Japan, Republic of India, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and United States of America.