According to the Ministry of National Defense's Electronic Information Portal on November 2, the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM+) recently took place under the chairmanship of Malaysian Defense Minister Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin.
In his speech with the theme "Looking back at the 15-year journey of ADMM+ and orienting cooperation for the future", General Phan Van Giang - Minister of National Defense emphasized that the 12th ADMM+ has special significance, marking the 15-year journey of development.
According to General Phan Van Giang, the world is in a period of epochal change. Armed conflicts, tensions at hot spots, along with non-traditional security challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, terrorism, transnational crimes, cybersecurity, the risk of artificial intelligence abuse... are all borderless challenges, directly affecting the lives of people in many countries.
In that context, ADMM+ needs to make more efforts and commit to effectively respond to existing problems and emerging challenges.
First, continue to strengthen strategic trust, which is the foundation of all cooperation activities. Countries need to promote open dialogue, respect international law, independence, sovereignty and legitimate interests of each other. Vietnam persists in its policy of resolving all disputes and disagreements by peaceful means, on the basis of international law.
Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam emphasized the need to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), creating a favorable environment for negotiating the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in a practical and effective manner, in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Second, strengthen solidarity within ASEAN as well as between ASEAN and its partners; promote ASEAN's central role.
Third, on the basis of trust and solidarity, enhancing substantial defense cooperation, focusing on priority areas and emerging challenges. It is necessary to promote the effectiveness of existing expert groups, and at the same time study and expand cooperation in new areas such as cybersecurity, digital transformation, artificial intelligence governance in the military and defense sectors, ensuring that these technologies are used responsibly.
Fourth, link improving capacity to respond to common security challenges with strengthening cooperation in education, training, and developing high-quality human resources. This is a key factor to ensure the self-reliance and sustainability of the cooperation. General Phan Van Giang hopes that partners, with their strengths, will actively share experiences and support ASEAN in improving common capacity.
Fifth, promote the spirit of collective responsibility for peace and common prosperity. Current security challenges are transnational, and no single country can unilaterally address them. Therefore, countries need to share information, experience and resources to effectively respond together.
General Phan Van Giang affirmed that Vietnam is committed to continuing to be an active, active and responsible member, together with ASEAN countries and partners contributing to a peaceful, stable and developed region; expressed his belief that, with goodwill and joint efforts, ADMM+ will continue to develop, becoming a model of successful cooperation.
