Vietnam’s Defence Minister, General Phung Quang Thanh, who is Chairman of the first ADMM+, handed over the joint declaration, signed by defence ministers from 10 ASEAN member nations and eight dialogue partners, to ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan.

In his closing remarks, General Thanh said that after hours of working wholeheartedly and effectively, the meeting accomplished the set agenda as expected and it had been a great success.

At this inaugural meeting, defence ministers, all participants showed their trust and determination to engage in strategic cooperation for peace, stability and development in the region, he said.

“As the meeting proceeded, we have had exchanges of views on regional and international security, voluntary briefings on national defence and security policies, which together with bilateral meetings on the sidelines, have demonstrated that the ADMM+ is truly a key forum of strategic cooperation for building common understanding, mutual trust and confidence, and strengthening relationships both bilaterally and multilaterally,” the minister said.

The meeting also focused its discussion on the potential, prospects and direction of practical cooperation within the framework of ADMM-Plus and achieved consensus on identifying prioritised areas of cooperation in the initial stage, which are non-traditional security challenges, namely humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter-terrorism, military medicine, maritime security and peacekeeping operations.

The ministers agreed to task Vietnam with hosting the first ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting Plus Working Group (ADSOM+WG) in December 2010 for promptly realising the outcomes of the first ADMM-Plus.

General Thanh announced that the second ADMM+ will be hosted by Brunei Darussalam in 2013.

During a press conference following the meeting, Thanh said the ministers and minister representatives reached consensus on all the identified prioritised areas of cooperation, and assigned defence senior officials to set up working groups to build cooperation programmes, contents and specific measures.

According to the minister, several recommendations have been put forth, such as Vietnam and China to jointly establish a working group on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and Australia and Malaysia to co-organise a working group on maritime security.

The US suggested organisation of maritime security dialogue and joint patrols to combat pirates.

General Thanh said the East Sea issue was not included in the agenda of the first ADMM+, however, several ministers mentioned security in the East Sea while discussing regional security and the security policies of each nation.

The ministers agreed that disputes in the East Sea should be addressed through peaceful measures and dialogues and in line with th e 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), Thanh said, adding that Vietnam urged the concerned nations to promptly build a Regional Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

The success of the first ADMM-Plus opened up an official mechanism for dialogue and ministerial-level cooperation in defence and security between ASEAN members and partners, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large, General Thanh said.