VIENTIANE, Wednesday 16 November 2016 - At the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Retreat (ADMM Retreat), the ASEAN – Japan Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting was held in the Don Chan Palace Hotel in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 16 November 2016. The Informal Meeting was chaired by the Minister of Defence of Japan, Her Excellency Tomomi Inada, and was attended by the ASEAN Defence Ministers and the Secretary-General of ASEAN.
Representing His Majesty Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, in his Majesty’s capacity as the Minister of Defence, was Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin Haji Umar, Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The informal meeting underlined the increasing complexity of the global security environment and acknowledged the need for greater cooperation and engagement to address these challenges. The Ministers highlighted the need to maintain close engagement with one another and exchanged views on prospective defence cooperation. The Meeting also reiterated the importance of the ADMM-Plus and its activities under the Experts’ Working Groups which have contributed to fostering a spirit of openness, cooperation and interoperability among all eighteen countries.
ASEAN and Japan achieved close relations since 1973, and have achieved significant progress in the areas of political-security, economic-finance and socio-cultural. ASEAN and Japan will continue to enhance their partnership on political and security cooperation through dialogues and consultation, which includes ministerial meetings, senior officials and experts meetings, as well as the broader ASEAN-led architecture such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asia Summit (EAS).