REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian navy hosts the annual international symposium of Western Pacific Naval Symposium' (WPNS) 2016 attended by 27 countries.

The symposium was officially opened here on Tuesday by Rear Admiral Ari Soedewo, the Operation Assistant of the Navy Chief of Staff.

The 27 countries include the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, China, Chile, Colombia, the Philippines, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Canada, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, France, Peru, Russia, New Zealand , Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia .

Ari Soedewo said in the past several decades demand for maritime security has increased significantly as indicated by the growing challenge in the seas prompting various strategic studies to identify problems and to seek the best solutions to the problems.

"Experts and practitioners have made definitions of maritime security in three aspects -- sea security, sea and environment safety . From those aspects we could identify maritime threats," Ari said.

In a bid to promote maritime security regional countries generally seek cooperation and partnerships in dealing with any threat . All countries are aware that they could not alone face the challenges, he said.

"Therefore, in 1987, our predecessors together laid the foundation for maritime partnership in this region in the form of Western Pacific Naval Symposium. And this year the Indonesian navy, as the host for the 15th symposium uses the theme of 'maritime partnership for stability in the western Pacific region'," he said.

He said WPNS is an important forum to implement regional maritime partnership that would need strong foundation and mutual trust between countries or navies.

"The key to success in developing mutual trust lies on the men including us here . I am confident that we are all committed to developing mutual trust and cooperation peacefully for mutual interest and benefit," he said.

The international symposium is held to promote and maintain regional security in the western Pacific region and prepare material for the 15th WPNS discussions in Padang, West Sumatra on April 2016 and to hear the readiness of Chile to host the next WPNS Workshop in 2017.

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