ASEAN discusses regional defense cooperation in dealing with Covid-19

XINHUA, Hanoi :
The ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM) was held on Friday in video conference format to discuss regional defense cooperation in the fight against Covid-19 and post-epidemic directions.
Under the chair of Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnam’s deputy minister of defense and Vietnam’s ADSOM chief, delegates from ASEAN countries exchanged views on regional defense cooperation in dealing with Covid-19 including sharing experiences of the ASEAN defense forces in the prevention of the epidemic as
well as future cooperation directions for disease response, the Vietnamese ministry said in a press release.
Other topics including regional and international situation in the context of COVID-19 and post-epidemic, and future of the regional defense cooperation were also on the meeting’s agenda.
Speaking at the conference, Vinh said Covid-19 is a big hurdle in the globe, severely affecting ASEAN countries as well as ASEAN 2020 programs while noting that despite the epidemic, defense cooperation among ASEAN countries has been and will be more substantial.
Vinh highlighted that the Vietnamese defense ministry has proactively cooperated with various countries including Cambodia, China, Cuba, Laos and Russia to promote experience sharing and support each other in tackling the epidemic, according to the release.
Earlier in February, ASEAN defense ministers met at their retreat in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and issued a joint statement on defense cooperation against disease outbreaks.