ASEAN Maritime Forum opens in Da Nang

MF-9 drew the attendance of over 50 delegates from 10 ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretariat. 

Director of the Department of ASEAN Affairs Vu Ho led the Vietnamese delegation. 

Addressing the opening ceremony, Mr. Vu Ho underlined that maritime cooperation and security represents a high priority in cooperation among ASEAN and the bloc with its partners. So far, over 12 ASEAN agencies have engaged in maritime cooperation in such areas as security, maritime safety, searching and rescue, pirate prevention, illegal fishing prevention, environmental protection, and settlement of plastic wastes. 

The forum aims to review cooperative activities; figure out difficulties and challenges; and seek ways to boost maritime cooperation. 

Mr. Vu Ho proposed ASEAN member states propose solutions to consolidate and uphold the role of the AMF and expanded AMF in promotion of dialogues and cooperate on regional maritime issues. 

Established in 2010, AMF targets to create opportunities for relevant agencies to discuss and work with each other in maritime cooperation. 

The seventh Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF) will take place on December 6 with the participation of officials from ten ASEAN member states, their partners from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the RoK, Russia, and the U.S., and scholars./.  

By Kim Anh