VIENTIANE, LAO PDR, Friday 12 December 2014 – The 5th ADMM-Plus EWG on HADR meeting came to a close today at the Don Chan Palace Hotel, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR).
The meeting that commenced on 10 December 2014 was co-chaired by Mr. Kengo Sato, Director of Office of International Security Policy, Ministry of Defense, Japan and Lieutenant Colonel Phayvanh Chanthaphomma, Director of ASEAN Division, Ministry of National Defense, Lao PDR.
Brunei Darussalam’s delegation was headed by Lieutenant Colonel Awang Khairul Hamed bin Awang Haji Lampoh, Chief of Staff, Joint Force Headquarter (JFHQ), Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), accompanied by two officers from the JFHQ RBAF and the Directorate of Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence.
The meeting is a continuation of the 4th ADMM-Plus EWG on HADR Meeting held in Tokyo, Japan, in July 2014. It focused on the discussions of legal issues of foreign forces; exchange of views on countries’ processes and procedures on the reception of foreign forces in times of natural calamities and emergencies; as well as the development of an ADMM-Plus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The meeting also discussed the preparations for the Table Top Exercise on HADR which has been planned to be held in Lao PDR in 2015.
The ADMM-Plus EWG on HADR is one of the six EWGs established under the ADMM-Plus framework that focuses on practical military and defence cooperation. The other ADMM-Plus EWGs that have been established under the ADMM-Plus mechanism are the EWG on Maritime Security, EWG on Counter Terrorism, EWG on Peacekeeping Operations, EWG on Military Medicine and EWG on Humanitarian Mine Action.