The policy-making meetings are the ADMM/ADMM-Plus at the highest approving level, the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM)/ADSOM-Plus at the intermediate level where policy endorsement is usually made, and the ADSOM Working Group (WG)/ADSOM-Plus WG at the bottom of the structure where policy recommendation is produced.

For the ADMM, practical cooperation is facilitated by the “task groups” and the Bangkok-based ASEAN Center of Military Medicine, while the ADMM-Plus is facilitated through seven Experts’ Working Groups (EWGs).

Despite sharing a similar structure, the ADMM maintains the prerogative over the membership and modality of the ADMM-Plus, to preserve the concept of ASEAN Centrality. The ADMM and the ADMM-Plus meet annually whereas the supporting policy-making meetings are held more frequently as deemed fit. In addition to the annual meeting with ADMM Plus, the ASEAN Defence Ministers also hold regular Retreats.

The issue of defence cooperation is also discussed under the ambit of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Within the ARF, defence cooperation is addressed through the ARF Security Policy Conference (ASPC), ARF Defence Officials’ Dialogue (DOD), and the ARF Heads of Defence/Universities/Colleges/Institutions Meeting (HDUCIM). These mechanisms are intended to provide a platform for ARF Participants to exchange views and share best practices on defence-cooperation. For more information, please visit the ARF website, http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/.