ASEAN defence senior officials met yesterday in Ha Noi to discuss security co-operation, which is seen as an important step for ASEAN to build up a community by 2015.

Ten ASEAN member states are attempting to realise this target in the next five years, and the goal was reaffirmed at the 16th ASEAN summit, held in Ha Noi earlier this month.

"Co-operation in security and national defence amongst ASEAN member countries has helped to build up trust and solidarity in the region," Deputy Minister of Defence Nguyen Chi Vinh said yesterday at the 4th ASEAN Defence Senior Officials' Meeting (ADSOM-4) in Ha Noi.

As the chair of the meeting, Vinh stressed that ASEAN had become an inter-governmental organisation, and played an increasingly important role in the international arena.

The ADSOM-4 prepared the content for the defence minister-level meeting (ADMM), which was scheduled for May 10-13. The ADMM will approve the documents and agendas that were prepared yesterday for the ADMM+, which was a forum for ASEAN member states and their dialogue partners to discuss defence co-operation.

"ASEAN needs to have defence security co-operation, because of non-traditional security challenges in many areas," the Special Assistant to the Secretary General of ASEAN, Termsak Chalermpalanupap, told Viet Nam News. "In view of those challenges, we need defence and military personnel and equipment."

"Our defence and security co-operation will focus on tackling non-traditional security challenges," said Termsak.

Non-traditional security issues would be top on the agenda of the ASEAN Defence Minister Meeting next month, as the regional senior officials met yesterday in Ha Noi to discuss preparations for the 4th ADMM.

The chair said that meetings between defence officials, including ADSOM, were indispensable to reach the objective of creating the ASEAN Security-Political Community by 2015.

A draft for the 4th ADMM's joint statement was approved yesterday at the meeting, which also saw the senior officials agreeing on the documents of mechanism and process for non-ASEAN countries to join the ADMM+.

The officials reviewed the implementation of initiatives proposed by the ASEAN member states at previous meetings. They included Indonesia's initiative on mobilising military resources in rescue and relief and disaster mitigation; Thailand's initiative on co-operation amongst non-governmental organisations and the military in dealing with non-traditional security issues; and Malaysia's one on industrial defence co-operation.

Co-operation between ASEAN members had expanded into every area, meeting each member's socio-economic development goals, said Vinh, adding that ASEAN had started to enter a new phase of more practical co-operation to overcome security challenges, especially in regards to new trans-national security issues that were emerging in the region.

ASEAN had put forward an updated long-term strategic vision of a regional security structure that included ASEAN and its dialogue partners, Vinh said, confirming the interactive relationship between ASEAN and Asia-Pacific security.

Earlier on March 31-April 3, a meeting of the ADSOM Working Group (ADSOM WG) was convened in Ha Noi to prepare for the ADSOM-4.

Participants to the ADSOM WG all voiced their support for Viet Nam to organise the first ADMM+ at the end of this year, said Colonel Vu Tien Trong, director of the Viet Nam Institute for International Relations and National Defence.

"Viet Nam, which joined ASEAN in 1995, has been a very dynamic member of the community, playing a very active role—sometimes even more active than older ASEAN member states," said Termsak.

This year, Viet Nam will chair ASEAN, and under its chairmanship, the theme is "Toward ASEAN Community-From Vision to Action".

"We are very impressed by the Vietnamese military in hosting ADMM Working Groups and ADSOM meetings," said Termsak. "They mobilised a lot of resources and manpower to ensure success of the meetings."

The meetings between ASEAN and their partners' defence ministers (ADMM+) would play an important role in maintaining peace and stability in the region in the future, according to Vinh.

It was expected that Defence Ministers from all of ASEAN's partners, such as Russia, China, the US, India, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea, will join the ADMM+.

The 16th ASEAN Summit, held earlier this month, decided to choose the eight full dialogue partners for the ADMM+, which will be a forum for the exchange of defence resources among ASEAN members with their partners, as well as a chance to look for co-operation mechanisms on both strategy and action to make co-operation more effective.

"Hosting the ADMM+ will mark Viet Nam's ASEAN chairmanship this year, which is seeing Viet Nam making efforts to confirm its defence policy towards peace and stabilisation in the region as well as the world," said Vinh.

At present, ASEAN needed to continue strengthening internal relations and expanding co-operative ties and dialogue with external partners for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and the world, said Termsak.

(VNS)