Cambodia will host the 9th Annual Chiefs of Defense Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM) on March 28-30 in order to further strengthen the bloc's military cooperation, said a senior defense official on Tuesday.

The ACDFIM is a regional platform for Chiefs of Defense Forces from the ASEAN countries to discuss cooperative mechanisms for current significant matters relevant to defense and security, Lt. Gen. Nem Sowath, director general of the Defense Ministry's Policy and Foreign Affairs Department, said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Preceding the ACDFIM, there will be the ASEAN Military Intelligence Informal Meeting (AMIIM) and ASEAN Military Operations Informal Meeting (AMOIM) on March 26-28, he added.

"These meetings will focus on further enhancing mutual military cooperation among ASEAN member states in order to bring security and safety to the whole region towards the realization of an ASEAN community by 2015," he said.

In the upcoming meeting, he said, the army chiefs are expected to adopt a Joint Statement to further strengthen cooperation amongst ASEAN militaries.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.