MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Friday, 12 May 2023 - The 17th ASEAN Navy Chiefs' Meeting (ANCM), held from 8th to 12th May 2023 in Manila, Philippines, was hosted by the Philippine Navy (PN) and was attended by navy chiefs and representatives across all ASEAN member states. Along with the 17th ANCM, PN also organized a Maritime Security Symposium (MSS) 2023 and an ASEAN Fleet Review (AFR).
Leading the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) was Captain Haji Mohamad Sarif Pudin bin Matserudin, Acting Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN), and accompanied by two staff officers Lieutenant Commander Najihah binti Haji Hisab, RBN, Staff Officer Grade 2 Intelligence and Lieutenant Junior Grade Warhamni binti Bohari, RBN, Foreign Military Liaison Defence Attaché.
The Maritime Security Symposium (MSS) 2023 on 9th May 2023 centred on “ASEAN at the Forefront: Emphasizing ASEAN's Perspective, Highlighting its Strength". Present to deliver his keynote address was Senior Undersecretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr., the Officer-in-Charge at the Department of National Defense. The symposium featured two panels with the first discussing on The Southeast Asian Region: A Theatre of Converging Challenges and Interests and the second on The ASEAN Perspective: Upholding ASEAN Centrality, Highlighting Cooperation.
The 17th ANCM Plenary on 10th May 2023 commenced with a welcoming address by Vice Admiral Toribio Adachi Jr., Flag Officer in Command (FOIC) of the Philippine Navy where he highlighted the vital role of ANCM in bringing together all ASEAN Navies in tackling regional maritime concerns and in continuous cooperation as a means to enhance interoperability and attain synergy at sea.
One of the agenda was the viewpoint exchange where all the Chief of Navies shared their insight and perspectives on this year's theme, “Synergy at Sea: Regional Cohesion for Peace and Stability". The meeting agenda entailed information sharing items and updates on future activities, which are the 4th Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo on 4 – 8 June 2023, hosted by the Indonesian Navy and the upcoming second iteration of the ASEAN Navy Training Experience Exchange Program (ANTEEP) tentatively in November 2023, hosted by RBN. The plenary also saw the adoption of the 16th ANCM Minutes of Meeting, the ANCM Road Map 2024 – 2032 and the ASEAN Guidelines of Maritime Interaction (GMI).
Meanwhile, the AFR held was held west of Subic Bay on 11th May 2023. The guest of honour during the event was the the Officer-in-Charge at the Department of National Defense. The Fleet Review showcased KDB DARUTTAQWA and KDB AFIAT of the Royal Brunei Navy, BRP ANTONIO LUNA and BRP ANDRES BONIFACIO of the Philippine Navy, RSS SUPREME of the Republic of Singapore Navy, KRI I GUSTI NGURAH RAI of the Indonesian Navy, KD LEKIU of the Royal Malaysian Navy, HTMS PATTANI of the Royal Thai Navy, VPNS TRAN HUNG DAO of the Viet Nam People's Navy with BRP DAVAO DEL SUR as the reviewing ship for the AFR. The AFR was a prelude to the second iteration of the 2nd ASEAN Multilateral Naval Exercise (AMNEX).
The Acting Comd RBN also had the opportunity to conduct bilateral meeting with the Chiefs of Navies from the Philippine Navy (PN), Vietnam People's Navy (VPN), Indonesian Navy (IDN), Royal Thai Navy (RTN) as well as representatives from the Lao's People Army (LPA) and Royal Cambodian Navy (RCN).
The 18th ANCM will be hosted by Myanmar Navy in 2024.
