The Vietnamese delegation at the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM) in Phnom Penh. — VNA/VNS Photo

PHNOM PENH — Việt Nam will host an annual meeting of the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Network (APCN) this September.

The announcement was made by Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến who led a Vietnamese delegation to the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM) and the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) in Phnom Penh from May 17-18.

Addressing the meeting, Chiến said the organisation of ADSOM and ADSOM+ enables participating countries to have a chance to share ideas on issues of mutual interest.

Việt Nam is currently developing a document guiding the implementation of placing the ASEAN flag next to the national flag at the military units of ASEAN member states participating in UN peacekeeping operations, the head of the Vietnamese delegation said, adding the initiative was approved by the 14th ADMM Conference held in December 2020.

Chiến said he hoped the ADMM joint statement will be unanimously adopted by all countries at the in-person meeting.

According to the head of the Vietnamese delegation, the statement reflects solidarity and unity among ASEAN countries in addressing regional and world affairs for peace, stability, cooperation and development.

At the meeting, delegates heard the outcomes of the ADSOM Working Group and the 16th annual meeting of the Network of ASEAN Defence and Security Institutions; and discussed the bloc’s current cooperation and considered new initiatives for the ADMM.

The delegations discussed and agreed on documents to be submitted to ADMM and ADMM+ for approval in 2022, including new initiatives, the Phnom Penh Vision Statement on the role of defence agencies in ASEAN countries in support of post-COVID-19 recovery; and ADMM and ADMM+ joint statements.

Cooperation activities with dialogue partner countries, as well as preparations for ADSOM+, ADMM, ADMM Plus and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Retreat, were also discussed at the event.

Meeting with Japanese defence deputy minister

Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Chiến met with his Japanese counterpart Tsuchimichi Akihiro on Monday on the sidelines of the ADSOM.

The officials expressed their delight at their countries’ growing extensive strategic partnership in all aspects, including defence.

Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral defence ties have still been maintained and promoted, particularly in delegation exchange, military medical, personnel training, UN peacekeeping, and mutual support at multilateral forums, they noted.

The two deputy ministers agreed that Việt Nam and Japan will continue enhancing concrete and substantive cooperation with a focus on increasing all-level mutual visits, addressing war aftermath through projects using the Japanese Government’s official development assistance and non-refundable aid and improving maritime law enforcement capacity.

They will also continue consulting with and supporting each other at multilateral forums, and working closely together to fulfil their role as co-chairs of the ADMM-Plus experts’ working group on peacekeeping operations for the 2021-23 period. — VNS