BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Tuesday, 30 April 2019 – The Royal Brunei Navy is currently hosting the 28th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) Workshop beginning today until 2 May 2019 at the Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong.
Present to officiate the commencement of the workshop was First Admiral Haji Othman bin Haji Suhaili @ Suhaily, Commander of Royal Brunei Navy. The workshop is being chaired by Captain Norshahrinizam bin Haji Talib, RBN.
Held annually, the focus of this year’s WPNS Workshop is to review existing initiatives as well as to discuss upcoming activities and proposals. These includes a review of the WPNS Symposium 2018, International Fleet Review, Short Term Exchange Programme (STEP) 2018, Ship Rider Programme, 2nd WPNS Junior Officers Interaction Programme 2019, the proposed amendment on the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), International Maritime Conference and Exhibition for Defence (IMDEX) 2019, Information Fusion Centre (IFC) implementation in Peru, among others.
Representatives from 17 member countries are currently attending this workshop including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, People’s Republic of China, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, United States of America and Vietnam. Added to this, 6 observer countries – Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and United Kingdom - also sent their representatives.
Inaugurated in 1988, the WPNS has over the years grown to be a valuable avenue for navies from member countries in the Western Pacific region to build up mutual understanding and trust as well as to pursue cooperative activities towards ensuring the safety and security of the maritime domain. Such strengthening of partnerships under this platform has been made been possible through various maritime-related activities, information-sharing and professional exchanges.
This is the first WPNS-related engagement held in Brunei Darussalam.
The 29th WPNS Workshop will be hosted by the Philippine Navy in 2020. In addition to this, the Philippine Navy will also host the 17th WPNS Symposium next year.
