BALI, INDONESIA, Monday, 22 August 2022 - The 16th ASEAN Navy Chiefs’ Meeting (ANCM), held from 21st – 24th August 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, was hosted by the Indonesian Navy and attended by navy chiefs from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam as well as representatives of the Navy Chief from Cambodia and the Lao People’s Army.
The Royal Brunei Navy’s delegation was led by First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Spry bin Haji Serudi @ Haji Seruji, Commander of Royal Brunei Navy (RBN), and accompanied by his spouse, Datin Haslinda binti Haji Hamid, along with Lieutenant Commander Mohamad Arif Haji Tajuddin, RBN and Lieutenant Commander Muhammad Hakim bin Haji Basman, RBN.
The 16th ANCM began with an Opening Remarks delivered by Admiral Yudo Margono, Chief of the Indonesian Navy, where he acknowledged the physical hiatus of the past two iterations of ANCM and warmly welcomed with much anticipation the attendance of all distinguished delegates. He further touched on efforts to build relationships as well as to focus on common interests amongst ASEAN countries.
With the theme “The Role of ASEAN Navies in Addressing Maritime Challenges”, the meeting was followed by exchanges of views by respective Head of Delegations, where Commander RBN highlighted the importance of enhancing interoperability, operational effectiveness and strengthening partnerships through various initiatives amongst ASEAN navies. He also reaffirmed RBN’s commitment to ANCM initiatives as RBN will host the ASEAN Navies Young Officers’ Interaction later in the year and the ASEAN Navy Training Experience Exchange Programme in 2023.
On the sidelines of the 16th ANCM, Commander RBN also took the opportunity to conduct bilateral meetings with Admiral Yudo Margono, Vice Admiral Sam Sokha, Deputy Commander of the Royal Cambodian Navy, Vice Admiral Adeluis Bordado, Flag-Officer-in-Command of the Philippines Navy, as well as Rear Admiral Tran Thanh Nghiem, Commander of the Vietnam People’s Navy.
The ANCM is an annual platform for ASEAN Navy Chiefs to convene and engage with one another in enhancing cooperative naval ties and addressing shared challenges and opportunities.
RBN reaffirms its commitment to maintaining the peace and security of the maritime domain and continues to explore cooperative avenues with partner navies. Looking ahead, the RBN looks forward to attending the 17th ANCM to be hosted by the Philippines Navy in 2023.
