It is the first meeting in a series of military-defence activities since Vietnam assumed the 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship earlier this year. The meeting aims to fine-tune the contents and make preparations for the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM), the 14th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), and the seventh ADMM Plus.

Military-defence activities during Vietnam’s ASEAN chairmanship year are expected to promote regional peace and stability via dialogues and defence-security collaboration, guide approaches to dialogues and national defence-security coordination among the ASEAN member states and between ASEAN and partner countries, foster mutual trust via deeper understanding about defence challenges, and improve transparency and openness among the countries.