Singapore Hosts 21st Shangri-La Dialogue

SINGAPORE, May 31 (Bernama) -- Singapore is hosting a three-day 21st Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) starting Friday, with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr set to deliver the keynote address on the opening day.

Singapore's Defence Ministry (Mindef) said that this year's edition will see attendance from 45 countries, with 49 ministerial-level delegates and over 40 senior defence officials including Chiefs of Defence Forces, as well as prominent academics.

Organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the dialogue will include delegates such as United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III and China’s Minister of National Defence Admiral Dong Jun.

Indonesia's President-elect and current Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to deliver a special address on Saturday. Later that day, Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will host a dinner for delegates at the National Gallery.

Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen will speak at the seventh plenary session on Sunday on "Re-Imagining Solutions for Regional Stability".

He will also host roundtable discussions with visiting ministers on Saturday and Sunday and a breakfast for the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) defence ministers, said Mindef in a statement.

Ng will also host the 12th FPDA Defence Ministers' Meeting and conduct bilateral meetings with ministers and senior officials from various countries on the sidelines of the SLD.

Established in 2002, the SLD is the premier defence and security conference in the Asia-Pacific region and over the years, it has provided a valuable, open, and neutral platform for the exchange of perspectives on defence and security issues and initiatives.

-- BERNAMA