Phnom Penh, June 17 (TIWN) Cambodia is ready to host the 16th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) on June 22 in Phnom Penh, which will be chaired by the country's Defence Minister Gen. Tea Banh, an official statement said on Friday.

According to the statement, the meeting will bring together Defence Ministers from all ASEAN member states, reports Xinhua news agency.  A number of documents are expected to be adopted in the upcoming meeting, including enhanced military cooperation among ASEAN member states to prevent cross-border pandemics, promoting support mechanisms for female peacekeepers, and establishing cooperation among military educational institutions, it said.  General Nem Sowath, director-general of Cambodia's General Department of the Defence Ministry's Policy and Foreign Affairs, said the meeting is also expected to endorse a Phnom Penh vision on the role of defence institutions in supporting the post-Covid pandemic recovery and a joint declaration to strengthen solidarity for harmonious security. 

"As the host of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' meeting and related security meetings in 2022, Cambodia is committed to promoting ASEAN's solidarity to address current and emerging security challenges in the region," he said at a press conference here.  Sowath added that apart from the 16th ADMM, there will also be a virtual ASEAN-China Defence Ministers' informal meeting and a physical ASEAN-Japan Defence Ministers' informal meeting.  ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.