Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces Haji Affendi Buang speaks at the Perwira Dialogue 2020 on February 24

In his speech, Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces Haji Affendi Buang said this was the first time his country had revealed the Defence White Paper which sets up strategic orientations for defence in the next 10 years.

He said one of the highlights of this paper is the affirmation that Malaysia is a maritime nation and its government’s commitment to pursuing the three pillars of the defence strategy, namely concentric deterrence, comprehensive defence and credible partnerships.

In the Defence White Paper, Malaysia said it needs to focus on dealing with non-traditional security issues like terrorism, piracy and maritime security, cyber crime and security, and transnational crimes, as well as to apply modern technologies to defence.

At the event, participants from countries in the region like Brunei, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam presented assessments of the regional situation and their countries’ defence – security relations with Malaysia.

Tran Viet Thai, Deputy Director of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, said Vietnam and Malaysia should increase information sharing, personnel training and patrols, as well as multilateral cooperation.

He emphasised ASEAN’s importance in safeguarding security, along with ensuring peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region./. VNA