His Excellency Alan Peter Cayetano,
( pronounce A-lan Peter Kai-tano )
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines
Her Excellency Ibu Retno Marsudi,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia
Chief of Defence, Chief of Police, Head of Security Agencies, and Senior Officials of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia,
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. First and foremost, on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I would like to warmly thank His Excellency Alan Cayetano ( pronounce A-lan Peter Kai-tano ) for having provided an excellent venue and hospitality for this meeting. This special meeting held today is very timely. We urgently need to find new approaches, in an age when the old ways are proving inadequate to the dangerous challenges we face today.
2. We are a world of nation states. But new conflicts and threats imperilling our peace and security do not recognise borders. Some non-state actors, such as the so-called Islamic State, have shown that they possess the capacity to destroy sovereign states.
3. Terrorists has been with us throughout history. However, the challenge posed by terrorists in our day and age differ from those in the past in three very significant aspects:-
Firstly, motivated by a perverse ideology, terrorists today welcome death, for others and for themselves. In the past, terrorists retained a sense of self-preservation unlike today. It is far more difficult to stop people willing to die;
Secondly, technology has enabled terrorists to spread their message faster and more broadly than ever before. They have proven to be experts as using social media to recruit followers in faraway countries; and
Thirdly, a sense of dissatisfaction, humiliation and alienation is pervasive. These are the results of fundamental changes in the social, economic and cultural structure of societies. Terrorists have exploited this to their advantage.
4. We must therefore adopt a comprehensive, yet flexible approach to addressing the problem. At the same time, we must intensify cooperation and coordination of all countries – to marginalise extremists, reclaim the centre, and shape the agenda towards peace and pragmatism.
5. I know that Your Excellencies share the same concern. I am gratified that we all see eye-to-eye on the need for greater cooperation and coordination between the three countries to tackle this threat, especially through intelligence sharing and patrolling.
6. Last month, under the ambit of the AQABA process which I attended, we examined the growing threat of terrorism particularly in Southeast Asia, and shared our experiences and intelligence, with the view towards finding solutions to eradicate this threat. This meeting today could be seen as an extension of that discussions. I recalled there is a poignant need for such process to also include a formal mechanism where sharing of experiences, information and intelligence could be translated into concreate actions and follow–up. Therefore, I believe there is a need for us today to agree to formalise our cooperation through an establishment of a mechanism which include all relevant stakeholders. This was discussed by our SOM Leaders this morning. This is an urgent task that we need to undertake as clearly evidenced through the current situation in Marawi, and the recent terror attacks in various parts of the world.
7. In this regard, our three countries, must participate in an effective system to identify and combat terrorism activities. This means, our enforcement agencies must constantly engage with each other not only in intelligence sharing, but other new, effective and innovative measure. There is an urgent need to be proactive in facilitating the prompt exchange and processing of information, strengthening inter-agency cooperation and assistance in investigations of criminal activity amongst the relevant stakeholders in our countries as a cohesive unit, as well as cross-border cooperation in the coordination of relevant operations.
8. Military and intelligence services in our nations, besides needing to share information, also need to collaborate more, daring to pre-emptively arrest as necessary. Given the sophistication and inventiveness of the terrorist groups, we must be innovative.
9. As we promote innovation, let us also cast our minds to our own traditions; often, the key to the future can be found in the past. Moderation is a traditional value in our region. It must therefore become a key component of our present efforts.
10. Malaysia stands ready to share its experience; and I wish to again propose that we work towards formalisation of a mechanism for this Trilateral Process, and we task our SOM Leaders to continue deliberating this proposal and report to the next Trilateral Meeting, which hopefully could be convened by the end of 2017.
11. I once again reiterate our commitment to work together as a team in combating this act of hatred. I am hopeful that this meeting will help to address the common security threat that we face.
Thank you.