Vietnam’s presence at the events manifested the country’s active role in regional and international issues as well as its hope to intensify cooperation with other countries in solving security challenges.This was also a chance for Vietnam to express its points of view on security and development issues and to safeguard national interests, and preparation for co-chairing the 42nd PAMS with the US Army Pacific in the country in 2018.
Delegates at the opening ceremony of the 10th Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference. Photo: Yonhap News
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At the events, experts agreed that climate change, rapidly developing technology, increasing wealth gaps, and uncontrollable urbanisation and migration have increased international security issues such as terrorism, cyber attacks, refugee crises, natural disasters and diseases. Solving all these challenges requires the involvement of the countries’ armies, they said.
Participants also proposed measures to boost collaboration in training, and improving the capacity of responding to states of emergency, sharing information and experience, and building a coordination mechanism between military and civil forces. The biennial PACC was launched in 1999 to promote ties among leading army officers in the region.
The 10th PACC has brought together army chiefs of staff and senior commanders from 29 Indo-Asia-Pacific countries under the theme of "Unity of Effort: Building Civil-Military Partnerships in Land Force Response to Non-Traditional Security Threats." Meanwhile, the PAMS, initiated by the US Army Pacific, has been held annually since 1978.
On the sidelines of these events, Lieutenant General Pham Hong Huong had bilateral meetings with delegation heads of the Republic of Korea, Japan, China and the US. Huong affirmed that defence cooperation between Vietnam and the countries has received much attention and has produced positive results.
