BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Tuesday 22 September 2015 – The 13th Joint Defence Working Committee (JDWC) meeting between Brunei Darussalam and the United States of America was held today at Officers’ Mess, Bolkiah Garrison, Brunei Darussalam. The meeting was co-chaired by Haji Adi Ihram bin DP Haji Mahmud, Acting Director of Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence, and Brigadier-General Mark W. Gillette, Deputy Director, Strategic Policy and Planning, US Pacific Command (US PACOM). In attendance were Deputy Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy, Commander Othman bin Haji Suhaily, Colonel Stephen Charles Ma, Defense Attache to Brunei Darussalam, along with other defence and military officers from both countries.
The meeting discussed the strengthening of bilateral defence and military relations between Brunei Darussalam and the United States, taking stock of the current engagements in terms of training, bilateral tabling initiatives, along with further opportunities of cooperation in multilateral engagements through the ADMM-Plus platform. There were also discussions and exchange of views on topics of mutual interest in the areas of defence and security, such as maritime security and counterterrorism.
As the current co-chair of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security, Brunei Darussalam looked forward to the support and participation of the USA in the upcoming ADMM-Plus Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism Exercise to be held in May 2016.
The meeting concluded with an exchange of gifts between the two co-chairs.
The Joint Defence Working Group meeting between Brunei Darussalam and USA was first established through the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defence Cooperation, signed on 29 November 1994. The MOU serves as a framework for fostering closer defence relations and cooperation between the two countries.