BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Tuesday 11 February 2014 – The Ministry of Defence of Brunei Darussalam held the first ever workshop on establishing a direct communication link or ‘hotline’ within the ASEAN region and beyond.
This workshop is an outcome of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s intention to have practical procedures in place to avoid any undesired incidents at sea which was communicated during the 22nd ASEAN Summit in April 2013.
The ASEAN Defence Ministers during their Seventh Meeting in May 2013 responded to this call made by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam. Consequently, the initiative is taken up under the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).
The workshop is held at the Centrepoint Hotel, Bandar Seri Begawan on the 10 – 13 February 2014. The focus of the two-day workshop is to discuss on issues and possible concepts of the direct communication link or hotline in the ADMM Process. The workshop has also invited distinguished panel speakers from the United Nations and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Colonel (Retd) Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Azmansham Pengiran Haji Mohamad, Permanent Secretary (Defence Policy and Development) from the Ministry of Defence as the Brunei Darussalam’s ADSOM Leader, in his opening speech, highlighted the workshop to be the first step in establishing the aforementioned direct communication link and expressed his confidence in meeting the objectives successfully. He noted that this confidence stems from the cooperation, understanding and solidarity of ASEAN and also, from the talent and dedication of the officials participating in the workshop.
The idea of the direct communication link concept is a confidence- and security- building measure activity with means to provide rapid, reliable and confidential communication between any two defence establishments. This workshop would be a platform to shape the concept of the link in order to prevent escalation, especially in instances related to maritime security, and to promote quick-response cooperation in emergency situations. Colonel (Retd) Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Azmansham also noted the difficulties and sensitivities that they will face in their deliberations, but hoped that this diversity will not deter, but instead augment their wealth of experiences to draw upon as this will be a notable contribution in fulfilling the prospects of having an ASEAN Community by next year.
A total of 46 participants from the ASEAN countries and ASEAN Secretariat attended the workshop. The representatives of Brunei Darussalam are Haji Adi Ihram Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud, Acting Director of Defence Policy, accompanied by Ministry of Defence’s officers from Directorate of Defence Policy, Royal Brunei Navy, Directorate of Intelligence, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Directorate of Force Capability Development, Centre of Science and Technology Research and Development and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade