Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen attended the 9th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus in Siem Reap, Cambodia, today. This was the first ADMM-Plus conducted in-person after two years of virtual meetings.

During the meeting, Dr Ng and his counterparts exchanged views on the regional and international security environment. In his remarks, Dr Ng stressed the importance of upholding an open and inclusive regional security architecture, and the role of the ADMM-Plus as a key platform for enhancing mutual trust and confidence building between defence establishments. The meeting also adopted the Joint Declaration by the ADMM-Plus Defence Ministers on Defence Cooperation to Strengthen Solidarity for A Harmonised Security. The Joint Declaration reaffirmed the ADMM-Plus countries' commitment to promoting peace and security in the region by reinforcing strategic trust and mutual confidence.

Delivering his remarks after the 9th ADMM-Plus, Dr Ng highlighted the importance of the ADMM-Plus as an ASEAN-centred, open and inclusive platform in the regional security architecture, to facilitate dialogue in spite of differences and advance practical cooperation. He said, "I was very happy that there were rich bilateral exchanges on top of multilateral meetings. This goes some way in terms of discussing difficult issues. We do not expect that all differences can be resolved in one meeting, but these meetings allow for an understanding of differences. There is a clear recognition of the heightened security environment, whether it was because of the war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, US-China tensions, and others. There was a clear recognition that we had to deal with them in order to prevent conflict, especially in Asia. I was glad that all countries affirmed that we needed to increase practical cooperation and also improve mutual understanding, confidence and trust."

At the sidelines of the ADMM-Plus, Dr Ng met with India Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and New Zealand Minister of Defence Peeni Henare to reaffirm the strength of Singapore's bilateral defence relationships with India and New Zealand.

The ADMM Retreat and 9th ADMM-Plus concluded with the handing over of the ADMM and ADMM-Plus Chairmanship from Cambodia to Indonesia. The ADMM and ADMM-Plus are key pillars of the regional security architecture and have contributed to regional peace and stability by fostering trust and practical cooperation among all 18 countries.