JERUDONG, Monday 2 Dec 2013 – His Royal Highness Prince General Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and General of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces consented to officiate the opening of the fourth Brunei Darussalam International Defence Exhibition (BRIDEX) Conference today at the BRIDEX Conference Hall, Jerudong.
In the opening address, HRH Prince General Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah saw that the role of defence in regional affairs will remain increasingly important in ASEAN’s efforts in community-building. To achieve the objectives of the ASEAN Political Security Community, greater attention has been given to the shaping and sharing of norms, conflict prevention and conflict peace building. As an example, HRH Prince General Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah stated how close cooperation among defence and military officials had been instrumental in contributing towards the development of trust and confidence.
HRH also highlighted the support given by the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting (ADMM) on the proposal by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam for the establishment of hotlines to avoid miscalculation and preventing conflicts in the maritime domain.
The Conference featured eight high-profile personalities and renowned experts, including two keynote address speakers in the opening session.
Minister Chan Chun Sing, the Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Defence, Singapore delivered a keynote address on ‘Forging a Stronger Regional Security Architecture’. In his speech, Minister Chan viewed the region’s security architecture must be anchored upon three principles: open and inclusive, disagreements should be settled peacefully and in accordance with international law, and the security architecture must be able to facilitate strategic dialogue and practical cooperation.
General Sir David Richards, former Chief of Defence Staff, United Kingdom delivered the second keynote address on ‘Alliances and Common Defence: A Reflection for ASEAN’ where he shared his views on NATO. He stressed that allies must share more than interests or perceived risk: they need to share values priorities, culture and ideally a common language. Alliances, he added, must have genuine long-term strategic purpose, trust, and efficient command and control mechanisms in order to prosper.
In the second session, five speakers shared their views on various defence and security issues: Brigadier (Retired) Vinod, Anand, Senior Fellow and Research Coordinator, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi, India; Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, Deputy Director, Centre on China-America Defense Relations, Academy of Military Science (AMS), People’s Liberation Army (PLA); Professor Geoffrey Till, Director of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies, King’s College London; Mr Richard A. Bitzinger, Coordinator of Military Transformations Programme and Senior Fellow, Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore; and Minister B. Winid, Undersecretary of State for Security Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland. The Conference concluded with a luncheon lecture delivered by the Honorable General Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Panglima Hj. Zulkifli bin Hj. Zainal Abidin, Vice-Chancellor National Defence University, Malaysia.
The BRIDEX Conference, conducted biennially by the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (SHHBIDSS) in conjunction with the exhibition, brings people in defence, military and security fields together, providing an avenue for deeper understanding of regional dynamics and security issues of close concern to the region.
