Malaysia to 'rejuvenate' trilateral cooperation pact with Indonesia and Philippines, says Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR: The country's trilateral cooperation pact with Indonesia and the Philippines will be "rejuvenated", says Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

The Senior Minister (Defence) said he would meet his counterparts during the Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security Asia (Natsec) 2022 exhibitions which will take place from March 28-31.

"We created a trilateral (pact) before but for some reason or another, this requires rejuvenation. So the defence ministers of Indonesia, the Philippines and I have agreed this is a good opportunity to revive our trilateral cooperation.

"Once we put in place the defence arrangements, I think we can expand that to the internal securities of the three countries," Hishammuddin said after a pre-event walkabout at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) here on Sunday (March 27).

The Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA) among the three countries was created to boost security in the Sulu Sea, Sulawesi and Sabah's east coast.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, who was also at the press conference, said a "comprehensive masterplan" to address border control is in the works.

"We can't just leave it to one ministry. We need to combine forces and we need everyone to be on board.

"For the last two years, Ops Benteng has shown how both ministries can achieve success together to protect our borders.

"We will come out with a comprehensive masterplan for our borders in terms of defence and internal security which we will submit to the Cabinet," Hamzah said.

For the upcoming exhibitions, Hishammuddin said the organisers are expecting 25,000 visitors from more than 50 countries.

"Malaysia will play host to over 350 foreign VIP delegates from 45 countries and regions comprising defence ministers, home ministers as well as police, army, navy and air force chiefs along with director-generals and heads of cyber-security agencies," said Hishammuddin.

Security at the two events will also be tight.

"Of paramount importance for an event like this is security and it will be top class," Hamzah said.

Hishammudin also quipped that the tanks at the exhibition could be used if security needed to be beefed up.