IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2004
Dr John Chipman CMG
IISS Director
Friday 4 June 2004
Welcome to the Opening Dinner of the Third IISS Shangri-La Dialogue.
The IISS is proud to host this, the only, forum in the Asia-Pacific for defence minister-led discussions on pressing defence and security issues.
Over the first three years of this unique IISS experiment in multilateral defence diplomacy, defence ministers have attended and participated from the following countries: the US, UK, France, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Mongolia, and of course, Singapore. Deputy Defence Ministers or senior defence/security officials have participated from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Russia. Last year we introduced to the delegations chiefs of defence staff, national security advisors, and permanent under secretaries of ministries of defence and this year we have also invited other officials with responsibility for intelligence, police and national security matters.
The result has been the growth of the Shangri-La Dialogue into the richest collection of defence professionals in the Asia-Pacific.
We have organised this event, first on our own initiative, and later at the request of the defence ministers who have asked us to enable their multilateral diplomatic engagement with colleagues.
The Asia-Pacific has many institutions, but it has no formal defence organisation and we hope that the Shangri-La Dialogue will serve as the best available vehicle for developing and channelling astute and effective public policy in the Asia-Pacific on defence and security.
This conference is, in fact, four events rolled into one. First, the plenary sessions offer an opportunity for ministers to clarify and expand government policy, and be challenged by an expert group on policies and assumptions, in this way informing and refining the quality of wider public debate on Asia-Pacific security. Second, the break-out groups, also involving ministers and senior officials offers a private opportunity for professional discussions to more deeply analyse pertinent strategic issues and to advance policy aims. Third, the private bilaterals between defence ministers and other officials provides the opportunity to advance immediate policy goals. Fourth, the multilateral lunches help to cultivate the sense of a defence and security community where shared interests can be protected and advanced.
I want to thank the Government of Singapore for the extraordinary support that it has given to the Shangri-La Dialogue and for the faith it has placed in the IISS as organiser of this event. This is a complex operation, and the IISS is grateful for the direct financial support it has received from Singapore and the governments of Australia, Japan, and the UK. Vital commercial sponsorship has been received from Autonomy, BAE Systems, Boeing, EADS, Northrop Grumman, Thales, Singapore Technologies Engineering, and the Asahi Shimbun. Both the Starr and the Robert James Foundations as well as the Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) have also provided essential support.
This conference is about strengthening defence links and developing strong policy. We look forward to stimulating exchanges over the next few days, but exchanges that also lead to improved security.
Good policy depends on good ideas, and we are delighted this evening to have some good ideas in the address to be delivered by our guest speaker. And to introduce the Prime Minister of Singapore, I have the pleasure to ask the Chairman of the IISS International Council to come to the podium.
