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| Formidable Class Frigate (Singapore) |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Defense minister outlines measures to tackle maritime challenges in the Asia-Pacific.
This week, Singapore hosts the 10th International Maritime Defense Exhibition Asia (IMDEX) at the Changi Exhibition Center. With more than 180 exhibitors from over 50 navies and maritime enforcement agencies, including 30 Chiefs and Vice Chiefs of navies and coast guards, it is the Asia-Pacific’s largest exhibition of its kind.
At the opening ceremony of IMDEX on May 19, Singapore’s defense minister Ng Eng Hen delivered a speech calling for global maritime cooperation to address a number of key shared challenges. In his remarks, seen by The Diplomat, Ng noted that since any disruption of maritime trade routes in Asia would affect the global economy, all countries had a collective interest in keeping regional sea lines of communication open and secure.
Doing so, Ng said, required the global community to jointly address three significant problems: maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea; the threat of maritime terrorism; and piracy and sea robbery. That list is not surprising considering the increasing attention to these threats of late, including here at The Diplomat. (See, for instance: “Over Half of World Piracy Attacks Now in ASEAN”.)
Read the full story at The Diplomat