Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum concludes

During the one-day gathering, the participants, including scholars, updated the current maritime cooperation situation; discussed measures to cope with disasters and incidents and ensure security, safety and freedom of navigation.

They also shared experience and practices, recommendations on the occasion of 20-year implementation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as future orientations for the forum.

Given the increasingly complicated situation and incidents in regional seas, EAMF has played an important role in fostering dialogue and confidence building on maritime cooperation and security.

The participants reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability, maritime security, freedom and safety of navigation, and agreed that greater efforts should be taken, especially in view of complicated developments on the ground.

The stressed the importance of UNCLOS, and also encouraged ASEAN and China to work for the full and effective implementation of the DOC, particularly Article 5 relating to self-restraint and not taking actions that might complicate the situation, as well as for the early conclusion of the COC.

The forum agreed that trust and confidence will be vital basis for strengthening maritime security and exploring areas of further cooperation, and vice versa. In this regard, disaster, humanitarian assistance, SAR have been discussed in-depth. In SAR, for example, the participants have highlighted the issues of communication, coordination, and capacity building, and modalities for such areas./.

By Quang Minh