BOLKIAH GARRISON, Tuesday 15 April 2014 – The First Workshop of the Establishment of Logistics Support Framework begins today at the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Ministry of Defence, Brunei Darussalam. Opening the programme this morning was Deputy Permanent Secretary (Defence Policy and Development), Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman.
In his welcoming remarks, Haji Hamzah highlighted that in the world of defence, logistics plays a vital part in coordinating national efforts and multinational responses to operational needs. He also noted that the workshop provides an ideal opportunity for ASEAN member states to share ideas among disaster management practitioners so that they may be able to reduce the carnage of future catastrophes, and enable more lives to be saved in time of disaster.
The workshop brings in participation from all the ASEAN member states. The two-day programme will include presentations from five panel speakers from ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), Armed Forces of the Philippines, Australian Defence Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and United States Pacific Command. The programme will also include consultation with the speakers, a breakout discussion and a formal discussion.
The concept of a Logistics Support Framework was adopted by the 7th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting in Brunei Darussalam in May 2013. It aims to promote and enhance the strategic flexibility of our region through the smooth execution of logistical processes.