Opening Remarks
The 8th General Conference of CSCAPHanoi, 21-22 November 2011
Dalchoong Kim, Co-Chair of CSCAP
His Excellency Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr.
Dang Dinh Quy, President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and Chairman ofCSCAP Vietnam, Distinguished Members of Diplomatic Corps, Respected Senior
Members of the Vietnam Government and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam,
Distinguished Role Players and Participants of the 8th General Conference, Membersof the media and press corps, and last but not least, Friends and colleagues ofCSCAP, Mr. Kwa Chong Guan and I bid you a very good morning.
Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the CSCAP Steering Committee, CSCAP
Vietnam and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, it is our great pleasure to welcome
you warmly to the 8th CSCAP General Conference, and to extend our deep
appreciation to you all distinguished participants for attending this GeneralConference.
At the same time, on behalf of the CSCAP Steering Committee, I would like toexpress my sincere gratitude to the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and CSCAP
Vietnam for organizing the 8th General Conference on behalf of the CSCAP under
the outstanding and dedicated leadership of Dang Dinh Quy, Chairman of CSCAP
Vietnam. I would also like to thank to CSCAP Member Committees and the CSCAP
Secretariat for their cooperation in organizing this important event. CSCAP Steering
Committee also wishes to extend its appreciation to our sponsors and supporters fortheir contributions for hosting the General Conference especially, our member
committees from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam.
It was almost 20 years ago, ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and InternationalStudies (ASEAN ISIS), the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), Pacific
Forum CSIS (Honolulu), and the Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA),
together with representatives of other research institutes from the Asia Pacific region
organized a series of conferences on security cooperation in the Asia Pacific.
The first meeting was held in Honolulu in October 1991, second in Bali in April
1992, and third in Seoul in November 1992. Participants from 17 countries, including
scholars and experts as well as officials acting in their private capacities, had taken
part in these meetings.
Participants at the Seoul meeting adopted the Seoul Statement at the end of themeeting agreeing that there was a need to provide a more structured process of anon-governmental nature in order to foster greater regional confidence building andsecurity cooperation through dialogue, consultation and research. They alsoestablished a Pro-tem Steering Committee to implement the Seoul Statement.
About seven months later, on June 8, 1993, the Kuala Lumpur Statement wasadopted at the Pro-tem Steering Committee, on the sideline of the 7th Asia Pacific1

Roundtable, and declared the statement establishing formally the Council forSecurity Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP) at the conclusion of theRoundtable on June 9. Its Charter was adopted at the Pro-tem Steering Committee
Meeting in Lombok, Indonesia, on December 16, 1993. Since the founding ofCSCAP, it has been increased its membership from the original ten to nineteen atpresent.
CSCAP activities are guided by a Steering Committee composed ofrepresentatives of all member committees. The CSCAP Steering Committee meets
twice a year in May or June in Kuala Lumpur and in November or December in oneof the other member countries. It is co-chaired by a member from an ASEAN
Member Committee and a member from a non-ASEAN Member Committee. TheSteering Committee is served by a Secretariat, located in Kuala Lumpur at ISISMalaysia.
With member committees from all the major countries in the Asia Pacific, CSCAP
has established its identity as a regularized, inclusive, open, independent, pro-active,and forward-looking non-governmental process on region-wide security matters.
CSCAP plays a leading role in enhancing regional security dialogue. It providesTrack 1 institutions, such as ASEAN and ASEAN Regional Forum with policyrelevant reports from the CSCAP Study Groups and Memorandums from the CSCAP
Steering Committee. The CSCAP Regional Security Outlook (CRSO) has been
published annually and widely distributed to draw attention to the pressing security
issues of today and tomorrow, and to provide Track 1 with informed policy-relevant
recommendations.
CSCAP has been working to consolidate its links to ASEAN Regional Forum tosupport ARF’s mission for comprehensive security cooperation in the region. Regularattendance of CSCAP Co-Chairs at ARF ISG meetings has been institutionalized.
Reciprocal arrangements have also been made for attendance by the Co-Chairs of
the ARF ISG at CSCAP Steering Committee Meeting for dialogue with members ofCSCAP. It demonstrates the commitment of the ARF toward the deepening of Track
1 and Track 2 interaction and cooperation. CSCAP will continue to make moreprogress in building stronger ties with ARF.
CSCAP hosts the biennial General Conference since its 1st General Conferencein Singapore in 1997. The second General Conference was held in Seoul in 1999,
and followed by the 3rd in Canberra in 2001. The subsequent four general
conferences were held in Jakarta, Indonesia, under the auspices of CSCAP
Indonesia chaired by Yussuf Wanandi until the 7th in 2009.
The General Conference promotes CSCAP’s visibility to wider range ofaudiences. It is a premier event of the CSCAP where scholars, experts, and policy
makers in private capacity to share with and discuss on their latest findings andanalysis in search of security cooperation.
Based on the successful outcomes of the CSCAP activities during the past twoyears since the last 7th General Conference in Jakarta, we are gathered here today
again to convene the 8th General Conference on the theme “Danger and Dilemmas:
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Will the New Regional Security Architecture Help?” This meeting will assess theeffectiveness of the evolving regional architecture in addressing traditional and nontraditional security challenges in the region.
This year’s General Conference is of particular significance as it takes place rightafter the 6th East Asia Summit on November 19 in Bali, Indonesia, with the formal
participation of the United States and Russia at the highest level in the EAS. Andalso, since the last 7th CSCAP General Conference, the Asia Pacific region has been
witnessing an impressive evolution of the regional architecture, including theinauguration of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Hanoi last year andthe formal opening of the permanent Secretariat of Trilateral Cooperation in Seoul in
September this year. I am confident that CSCAP’s role for regional security
cooperation will continue to grow in importance as the global economic and strategic
center of gravity shifts toward Asia.
Concluding my remarks, allow me to thank His Excellency Nguyen Thien Nhan,
Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam for his support of the CSCAP and its GeneralConference. It is indeed a great honor for us that His Excellency is with us thismorning to grace the 8th CSCAP General Conference. We are looking forward to hiskeynote.
I would like to invite Deputy Prime Minister.

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