BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Friday 19 April 2013 –The Final Planning Conference (FPC) for the 2nd ASEAN Militaries’ Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) was held this morning at the Rizqun International Hotel, here in Bandar Seri Begawan.
The meeting was co-chaired by First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz Haji Mohd Tamit, Joint Force Commander, Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) and Brigadier General Ngien Hoon Ping, Director of Joint Operation Department, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), in their capacities as the co-hosts of the 2nd AHX. Participants of the meeting consisted of representatives from all ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Secretariat.
The meeting today had a very active engagements and constructive discussions in finalizing the program and countries contribution towards an efficient and successful conduct of the 2nd AHX to be held in Brunei Darussalam on 16 June 2013. The 2nd AHX will be conducted as platform for Professional Knowledge Sharing in the form of symposium and Table-Top Exercise based on HADR Scenario.
The participants also had the opportunity for professional sharing during the meeting with a briefing given by the representatives from the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) to discuss broadly on HADR on HADR response mechanism at national and regional perspective.
First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz Haji Mohd Tamit, Joint Force Commander, RBAF said “During the recent ASEAN Chief of Defence Force Informal Meeting held in Brunei Darussalam, 20-21 March 2013, the 2nd AHX was highlighted as a very important event in ASEAN Militaries calendar this year. It is our objective to make the 2nd AHX a meaningful and productive engagement for all the participants, as a testimony of the collaborative nature of ASEAN.”
Towards the end of the conference, all of the participants from the ASEAN Member States and ASEAN Secretariat reaffirmed their continuous support towards successful conduct of the exercise. Apart from that, the conference has agreed on the concept and objectives as well as countries’ presentation in the Symposium and the programme of the 2nd AHX.
The Joint Force Commander, RBAF emphasized how much Brunei Darussalam as co-chair value all ideas towards the enhancement of ASEAN militaries’ interoperability, capacity building, and promotion of common understanding between all levels of our forces shared by the AHX members. “I am deeply heartened by the efforts that you have all put on the preparations of this exercise, as a step forward in strengthening practical cooperation and overall preparedness across the region in a common security concern, which is disaster relief and humanitarian aid. This is in line to this year’s themes ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting “Securing Our People Our Future Together” which reflects the significant emphasis on the values of security and livelihood of our people,” said the Joint Force Commander, RBAF.
First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz stressed on saying that “Today’s challenges need us to be more united and collective in our efforts, as no one country can deal with enormous natural catastrophe on its own. In this regards, we, the militaries, will continue to play our roles and contribute towards the promotion of people-to-people interaction as we strive towards the realization of the ASEAN Community in 2015.”
The AHX Exercise was inaugurated in July 2011, co-hosted by Indonesia and Singapore – had set the foundation for practical cooperation and military-to-military coordination between ASEAN militaries. With the 2nd AHX to be held this year in June, the foundation will build upon the positive progress that the region has witnessed since the first exercise, in further promoting the capacity-building, interoperability and interaction between ASEAN militaries.
