VIENTIANE, LAO PDR, Monday 14 March 2016 - Themed “Promoting Defence Cooperation for a Dynamic ASEAN Community”, the 13th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM) was held where ACDFIM leaders had interactive discussions on security issues of common interest. The Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Major General Dato Paduka Seri Mohd Tawih bin Abdullah, represented Brunei Darussalam at the meeting.
Through the Joint Statement, the ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces agreed to enhance their cooperation through confidence-building initiatives as well as practical cooperation activities in areas of common interests, through the organising of meetings, workshops, seminars, interactions, exchanges and exercises, which took shape in the ASEAN Militaries Two Year Activity Work Plan (2016-2018).
At the sidelines of the ACDFIM, the ASEAN Chiefs’ of Defence Forces had a joint courtesy call with His Excellency Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Lao PDR. The Commander of RBAF also held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts.
Preceding the ACDFIM, the 6th ASEAN Military Operations Informal Meeting (AMOIM) and 13th ASEAN Military Intelligence Informal Meeting (AMIIM) were held on 12 March 2016. Representing Brunei Darussalam for AMOIM and AMIIM were by the Joint Force Commander, Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the Director of Intelligence respectively.
Under the platform of AMOIM, ASEAN Heads of Military Operations continued to pursue the voluntary Two-Year Activity Work Plan (2016-18) as agreed upon as a guideline for multilateral activities of ASEAN militaries. AMIIM, on the other hand continued its progress in furthering the potentials of an ASEAN-centric network promoting intelligence exchanges and interactions between the ASEAN militaries intelligence community.