Vientiane, 26 May 2016 - The ASEAN Defence Ministers today commemorated the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM). The Ministers, who were in Vientiane for the 10th ADMM, took part in a series of events organised by the Ministry of National Defence of Lao PDR as the Chair of the ADMM this year. All ten Ministers and the Secretary-General of ASEAN attended a tree planting ceremony at the Kaysone Phomvihan Academy of National Defence and attended the opening ceremony of the ADMM Photo Gallery at the Lao People’s Army Museum.

Secretary-General Le Luong Minh, in his message on the occasion, said that, “the 10th Anniversary of the ADMM this year represents a milestone in the evolution of the highest defence cooperation mechanism within ASEAN. Having been established only in 2006, the ADMM has moved from dialogue and confidence-building to more concrete practical activities, especially with its partners”. The Secretary-General also said that ASEAN looks forward to further contributions by the ADMM to peace, security and stability in the region.

At the meeting convened the day before, the Ministers exchanged views on issues confronting the region such as terrorism and violent extremism, maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and cyber security. The Ministers also adopted the Terms of Reference of the ASEAN Centre of Military Medicine and of the ASEAN Militaries Ready Group and the Concept Paper on the Establishment of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Cyber Security.

Since its inception in Kuala Lumpur in 2006, the ADMM has made considerable progress. These achievements in the past decade have included the establishment of initiatives such as the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Network, ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration and the Direct Communication Links in the ADMM. The ASEAN Centre of Military Medicine meanwhile was officially launched in April. The ADMM has also convened the ADMM-Plus with the eight partners since 2010.

The Joint Declaration of the 10th ADMM could be accessed here.

http://asean.org/asean-celebrates-a-decade-of-defence-cooperation/