The 11^th ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-Sessional Meeting on Maritime Security (ARF ISM on MS) is taking place in Da Nang on 14 and 15 March.

The meeting in progress

Attending the event are over 80 representatives from 27 ARF member nations and Vietnamese ministries and agencies, plus maritime security experts from international organisations.

Jointly organised by the Vietnamese and Australian ministries of Foreign Affairs, and the European Commission (EC), the annual event aims to review maritime security situation and cooperation activities within the ARF, as well as give recommendations and propose new initiatives for the next period.

At the event, a number of reports on activities carried out in the mid-term year were released, including the ARF workshop on the implementation of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other legal documents to deal with arising deformation challenges. Co-chaired by Viet Nam and Australia, the event was held in the city on 12 and 13 March.

Also at the meeting, the participants discussed about regional maritime security situation, including cooperation results and unexpected challenges, as well as the efficiency of current relevant mechanisms.

They became actively involved in sharing information relating to maritime security-related guidelines, mechanism, policies, and solutions applied at national and regional levels.

Numerous matters relating to maritime safety, sea environment and sustainable development were also discussed at the event.

As scheduled, the delegates will debate and approve new initiatives, and add them into the ARF plan of actions in the 2019-2020 period.

Established in 1994, the ARF aims to promote dialogue and cooperation among member countries in politics-security, thus contributing to peace, stability and trust-building process in the region.

Currently, the forum has 27 member states and organisations. Viet Nam, Australia and the EU are co-chairs of the ARF ISM-MS in the 2019-2020 period.