THE 15TH HEADS OF ASIAN COAST GUARD AGENCIES HIGH MEETING (HACGAM) SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED IN COLOMBO

The 15th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies High Level Meeting conducted from 7th to 10th October was concluded successfully at Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. The inauguration ceremony was graced by the Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne WV, RWP & Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI(M), ndc, psn as the Chief Guest on the invitation of Director General of Sri Lanka Coast Guard Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunge, RWP, VSV, USP, nswc, MSc (DS) Mgt. Further, Additional Secretary (Defence) Mr. Anuradha Wijekoon and the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy, Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugethanne, RSP & Bar, VSV, USP, ndc, psc were also present as the guests of honour.

The HACGAM was conducted with the participation of its twenty one (21) member states; Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippine, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam, its associate member; ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) and three observer organisations; Bali Process, France and UNODC.

Maritime issues on four pillars of HACGAM; Search and Rescue, Environmental Protection, Preventing and Controlling Unlawful Acts at sea, and Capacity Building which discussed at Working Level Meeting (WLM) were tabled at High Level Meeting (HLM) before Chiefs of Coast Guards and Heads of Regional Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies for productive discussion and deliberation in order to validate and come to collaborative decision. Finally, the ‘Joint Statement’ was unanimously adopted. The productive and fruitful 15th HACGAM was concluded splendidly on 10th October 2019 by winning the accolade from all participants. Further, official Invitation for the 16th HACGAM which is scheduled to be held in Australia was handed over to Head of delegations of respective counties by the Head of the Australian delegation Rear Admiral Lee Goddard CNC CO in the final occasion of the 15th HACGAM.