Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Deputy Minister of National Defence Nguyen Chi Vinh are leading Vietnamese delegations to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat (AMM Retreat) and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM Retreat) in Singapore on February 4-6.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh 

The meetings open the first note for a wide range of activities during Singapore’s 2018 chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

According to a press statement issued by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministers will discuss ASEAN’s priorities in line with the 2018 themes of “Resilience” and “Innovation”.

They will follow up on progress on the implementation of the outcomes of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila in November 2017 in addition to matters related to the strengthening of the ASEAN Community and ASEAN Centrality in the regional architecture as well as promote stronger relations between ASEAN and its external partners and regional and global affairs.

Particularly, the ministers will talk about the ASEAN Leaders’ Vision for a Resilient and Innovative ASEAN and Concept Note on the ASEAN Smart Cities Network.

They will deliberate measures to prevent the increasing threats posed by terrorism.

Meanwhile, defence ministers from the 10 member states along with ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi are scheduled to partake in the ADMM Retreat from February 5-6.

The meeting focuses on discussing threats posed by terrorism in the region and Singapore in particular. As ASEAN Chairman in 2018, Singapore vows to promote counter-terrorism cooperation between members of ADMM and ADMM-Plus (ADMM) through charting out new and creative solutions.

The country will step up regional anti-terrorism collaboration, enhance capability to present chemical and biological threats, and build trust in the fields of aviation and navigation.

This is the second time Singapore has chaired the ADMM after the first time in 2006 with a view to reinforcing mutual trust of ASEAN member countries via better understanding of security and defence challenges.-VNA