ASEAN Regional Forum Member Countries Discuss Way Forward On Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy in Inter-Sessional Support Group Meeting Co-Chaired by Philippines and Canada
Acting PH ARF SOM Leader Ma. Hellen Barber-De La Vega and Director General Heidi Hulan of Global Affairs Canada (6th and 7th from right in the photo) with other Heads of Delegation to the ARF Inter-Sessional Support Group Meeting on Confidence-Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy
OTTAWA, 15 May 2017 – ARF member countries discussed the way forward on confidence-building measures and preventive diplomacy in an inter-sessional support group meeting held from May 11 to 12 in Ottawa, Canada, with the Philippines and Canada as co-chairs of the meeting.
The meeting discussed future areas of cooperation between and among ARF Member Countries in disaster relief (DR), counter-terrorism and transnational crime (CTTC), maritime security (MS), and non-proliferation and disarmament (NPD), among other areas. The meeting also exchanged views on major geo-political and security developments in the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world, including recent developments in the Korean peninsula and the situation in the South China Sea and the Middle East.
Assistant Secretary Ma. Hellen Barber-De La Vega, the Acting ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Official of the Philippines, steered the meeting together with Ms. Heidi Hulan, Director General of the International Security Policy Bureau of Global Affairs Canada. The ARF ISM on CBMs and PD is an annual meeting of relevant officials from the ARF Member Countries. It is a preparatory meeting to the ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting and the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum to be held in May and August, respectively, in Manila.
The ARF, which was established in 1994, serves as platform for discussing regional security issues in a multilateral setting. It brings together 27 participants from across the Asia-Pacific region, including the ten (10) ASEAN Member States, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste and USA. END