JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA Thursday 22 January 2015 – The ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group (ADSOM WG) convened today at the Pulai Spring Resort, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Jafri bin Abdul Jalil, Undersecretary, Policy and Strategic Planning Division, Ministry of Defence, Malaysia. The Head of Delegation from Brunei Darussalam is Haji Adi Ihram bin Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud, Acting Director of Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence as the Brunei Darussalam’s ADSOM WG Leader, and accompanied by research officers from the Directorate of Defence Policy.
The meeting was briefed on the progress of the ASEAN defence cooperation, as well as discussed and considered the draft concept papers and guidelines that could further contribute towards the progress and wider development of the ADMM mechanism.
The meeting commended the efforts and progress in Establishing a Direct Communications Link (DCL) in the ADMM Process for secure and effective communication. The Meeting also welcomed the outcome of the “First Technical Workshop on Establishing a DCL in the ADMM Process”, held in 25 to 29 August 2014 in Bandar Seri Begawan, which among others, recommended the operational concept for the DCL in the ADMM Process that set the arrangements for establishing the DCL between all ten ASEAN Defence Ministers. The Meeting acknowledged the good progress made following the convening of the “First Ad Hoc Working Group Meeting on the Establishment of a DCL in the ADMM Process”, held on 20 to 24 October 2014 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, which amongst others, recommended the implementation of the DCL in phases, and its technical concept.
On the Establishment of Logistics Support Framework initiative, the Meeting welcomed Brunei Darussalam’s efforts to follow up the convening of the Second Workshop of the Logistics Support Framework held on 18 to 12 December 2014 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, which amongst others, recommended the Logistics Support Framework manual as guidelines towards effective execution of logistics in ASEAN multinational response operations and its validation through activities such as a Table-Top Exercise to be held in Brunei Darussalam in September 2015.
Preparations for the ADSOM and ADSOM-Plus, scheduled on 11 – 14 February 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were also discussed.
Brunei Darussalam had the opportunity to conduct bilateral calls with the ADSOM WG Leader of Malaysia as the Chairman of the meeting, as well as other ADSOM WG Leaders from Myanmar, Singapore, New Zealand, United States, and the Head of Delegation from the ASEAN Secretariat.
The ADSOM-Plus WG Meeting will commence on Saturday, 24 January 2015 at the same venue, where the ADSOM-Plus WG participants will be briefed on the aseanprogress of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Groups (EWG), and discuss the preparations for ADSOM-Plus scheduled in February 2015.