Bangkok (VNA) – The Vietnamese Ministry ofNational Defence has officially assumed the role of Chair of ASEAN DefenceMinisters’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM Plus for 2020.

At a ceremony held in Bangkok on November 18, Politburomember, Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and Defence Minister Gen.Ngo Xuan Lich received the token of the Chair of ADMM and ADMM Plus from ThaiDeputy Prime Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan.

Speaking at the event, Lich congratulated Thai DefenceMinistry and Gen. Wongsuwan for successfully completing the role of Chair ofADMM and ADMM Plus during 2019, adding that their achievements will lay afoundation for Vietnam to hold the chairmanship for 2020 and their initiativeswill continue to be promoted.

Amid rapid and complicated developments in the region andthe world, he highlighted the need to form close connectivity, especiallywithin the ASEAN Political – Security Community.

According to him, the next year holds great significance forboth ASEAN and Vietnam, marking the fifth founding anniversary of ASEANCommunity and the 25th anniversary of Vietnam’s membership in thebloc.

Since joining the grouping, Vietnam has extensively joinedASEAN’s cooperation fields, including national defence-security and enhancingties among member states as well as between them and partners, with the firstADMM Plus held in Hanoi, he said, adding that ASEAN has later witnessedconstructive contributions by partners to improving its active and effectiveresponse to regional security challenges.

He said Vietnam is delighted to welcome partners back to theplace where the ADMM Plus mechanism was created 10 years ago to build an integratedASEAN Community in line with the theme of ASEAN Year 2020 “Cohesive andResponsive” chosen by Vietnam./.