Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces Haji Affendi Buang speaks at the Perwira Dialogue 2020 on February 24 (Photo: VNA)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysian Institute ofDefence and Security (MiDAS) held the Perwira Dialogue 2020 in Kuala Lumpur onFebruary 24 under the theme “Malaysia’s Inaugural Defence White Paper: Ideasand Implementation”.
In his speech, Chief of the Malaysian ArmedForces Haji Affendi Buang said this was the first time his country had revealedthe Defence White Paper which sets up strategic orientations for defence in thenext 10 years.
He said one of the highlights of this paper isthe affirmation that Malaysia is a maritime nation and its government’scommitment to pursuing the three pillars of the defence strategy, namelyconcentric deterrence, comprehensive defence and credible partnerships.
In the Defence White Paper, Malaysia said itneeds to focus on dealing with non-traditional security issues like terrorism,piracy and maritime security, cyber crime and security, and transnationalcrimes, as well as to apply modern technologies to defence.
At the event, participants from countries in theregion like Brunei, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam presentedassessments of the regional situation and their countries’ defence – securityrelations with Malaysia.
Tran Viet Thai, Deputy Director of the Institutefor Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry,said Vietnam and Malaysia should increase information sharing, personneltraining and patrols, as well as multilateral cooperation.
He emphasised ASEAN’s importance in safeguardingsecurity, along with ensuring peace, stability and development in SoutheastAsia and the Asia-Pacific region./.
VNA
