KUALA LUMPUR: Here is the essence of the Defence White Paper (DWP) themed ‘Secure, Sovereign and Prosperous Malaysia’ presented in Parliament yesterday by Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu.
The DWP, which is being developed as the new arm of the national defence policy, was developed with the cooperation of academicians, defence industry players, veterans, former Malaysian Armed Forces chief of army and civil society organisations.
Outlines a vision to defend Malaysia as a safe, sovereign and prosperous country and to position the country as a maritime nation with a continental lineage apart from maximising the country’s potential as a gateway linking the Asia-Pacific region with the Indian Ocean.
Malaysia will create a balanced, strategic ecosystem with greater cooperation and create more policy options by playing a role as a gateway between the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
The three identified challenges will shape Malaysia’s strategic perspective for the next ten years, the uncertainty of super power relations, the Southeast Asian neighbourhood and non-traditional security threats.
To achieve the vision and protect the interests of the country, five national defence objectives have been identified covering all aspects of defence and resource management.
To ensure Malaysia’s security, there are three areas of cohesion that must be maintained at all times:
i. The Territory or the mainland in Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak, the waterfront and the airspace above it;
ii. Extended areas as sovereign rights areas that include the Malaysian Maritime Zone, strategic waterways, airspace and critical communications links;
iii. Perimetres that extend beyond the extended areas where national interests can be threatened.
Three strategies for defending unified areas of interest have been identified, namely, Preventing Integrated Obstacles, Comprehensive Defence and Authoritarian Partnerships that are interrelated and supportive of each other.
MAF are structured based on the five identified features namely togetherness, co-operation, technology-based, concurrent operating capabilities in two regions; and mission-oriented
Strengthening bilateral and multilateral defence cooperation with neighbouring countries and stakeholders is fundamental to the Authoritarian Partnership Strategy.
Introducing a new approach to science, technology and defence industry policies by catalysing the defence ecosystem and national economic growth
The National Defence Industry Policy will be drafted in five key areas namely Human Capital Development, Technology Development, Industrial Development, Towards Independence and Global Market Opportunity.
The defence reform will be implemented through a master plan, the National Defence Investment Plan (3PN) that includes direction and planning for MAF capacity development plans, Defence Capacity Framework and the drafting of the National Defence Industry Policy. – Bernama