SINGAPORE, Saturday 4 June 2016 - First Admiral (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Tamit, the Deputy Minister of Defence today attended the 15th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.
During this visit, the Deputy Minister of Defence held a bilateral call with His Excellency Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence, Singapore, where both sides discussed bilateral defence and military cooperation, as well as regional and international security issues of mutual interests. First Admiral (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Tamit also held a separate bilateral call with Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, where Brunei Darussalam and Singapore expressed pleasure of the close and warm bilateral ties enjoyed by both countries, and reaffirmed their commitments to further strengthen the existing defence and military cooperation. Apart from that, the Deputy Minister of Defence also had the opportunity to conduct bilateral calls with other Senior Officials from various countries including China.
Last night, the delegation attended the Shangri-La Dialogue Opening Dinner where the Keynote Address entitled “Towards Strategic New Equilibrium of the Asia – Pacific” was delivered by the Prime Minister of Thailand, General (Retd) Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Accompanying the Deputy Minister of Defence to the 15th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue was Abu Sufian bin Haji Ali, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Defence Policy and Development), and Haji Muhd Shahrul Nizzam bin Umar, Director of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies.
The Shangri-La Dialogue is run by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank based in London. This year, participating countries come together to discuss contemporary security issues of mutual concerns, including maritime security, terrorism, illegal trafficking, piracy, cyber threats and the developments in the Korean Peninsula.
The annual three-day summit has become an unofficial conclave for high-level defence and military officials across the Asia Pacific region to openly discuss and debate international security strategic issues, promote confidence building, enhance trust, and discuss potential cooperation in facing these challenges.