MALAYSIA boosts defence partnerships with regional and foreign countries at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2023 (SLD2023) in Singapore.

The Defence Ministry (Mindef) said in a statement that this was in line with the third pillar of the national defence strategy, which emphasises authoritative partnerships as outlined in the Defence White Paper.

SLD2023, which was held from June 2 to 4, allowed Malaysia to exchange views with other countries on the latest security matters.

“It also strengthened defence ties with countries of interest,” the ministry said.

SLD2023 is an international forum involving defence ministers and senior government officials from countries in the Asia Pacific region and Europe.

During the forum, Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan held bilateral and multilateral meetings with officials from strategic countries, including Singapore, Portugal, China and the Philippines.

He also attended a meeting with defence ministers from member countries of the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA). – Bernama, June 4, 2023.