Under the agreement signed at the end of their one-day meeting here on Thursday, the five areas of cooperation are maritime security, peacekeeping operation, defence industry, disaster mitigation and humanitarian assistance.
They also agreed on a three-year program of ASEAN defence ministers.
To carry out the peacekeeping operation, the ASEAN defence ministers agreed to form an ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Network which would facilitate cooperation among ASEAN member states in peacekeeping operation, Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.
In the field of defence industry, Malaysian Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi appealed to ASEAN member states to start improving the capacity of their defence industry and technology by way of ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration (ADIC).
"The ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration will be successful if there is transfer of technology and supply of offsets (spare parts) among ASEAN members. This collaboration also needs the political policy from each of ASEAN member countries," he said.
Singapore Vice Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the concept of defence industry collaboration was very suitable for the Southeast Asian region.
"ADIC is very flexible, is not binding and is voluntary for each member country to develop their defence industry," he said.
With regard to the disaster mitigation and humanitarian aid, ASEAN member states agreed to improve their resilience in preparing disaster response programs.
All the ASEAN member states agreed to intensify practical cooperation in the use of military assets for disaster assistance.
ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The ministerial meeting established in 2006 is aimed at pursuing wider security cooperation among ASEAN member states and their dialogue partners in the Asia Pacific region. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
