During the visit, the two prime ministers expressed their admiration for the professional competence of the personnel of the second L2FH after visiting their field tents and witnessing the Vietnamese medical staff practicing real-life scenarios.
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Vietnamese Prime Minister and his Australian counterpart review the guards-of-honor. |
Both Vietnamese and Australian leaders also visited a pavilion showcasing the hospital’s environmentally-friendly products, including medical equipment and necessities which are in the hospital’s strategy to build the first “unit without plastic waste” model at the UN Mission in South Sudan.
According to Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Vietnamese personnel of the second L2FH will use medical equipment and necessities made from bamboo, coconut shells and environmentally-friendly products instead of plastic products after being deployed to the UN Mission in South Sudan in November, 2019. The effort will contribute to protecting the environment as well as popularizing the image of the Vietnam People’s Army to international friends in South Sudan and other countries.
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The two prime ministers visiting the pavilion of the second L2FH of Vietnam |
During the visit, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed delight at the strong development of Vietnam-Australia defense cooperation over the past 21 years. He recalled that on October 1, 2018, Australia sent two aircraft to fly 63 personnel of the first L2FH of Vietnam and medical equipment to the UN Mission in South Sudan and pledged that the country will send others to take the personnel of the first L2FH of Vietnam back home and carry those of the second one to South Sudan in November.
“Australia is experienced in joining UN peacekeeping operations and willing to create more favorable conditions for Vietnam to fulfill the mission. Our short-term mission is to take personnel of the second L2FH to South Sudan and to fly those of the first one back home. We will work together in peacekeeping missions and in other fields in the future.” PM Scott Morrison said.
Addressing the practical achievements in bilateral cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations, the Australian leader recalled Australia’s training courses to raise Vietnamese peacekeepers’ English language skills and professional competence since 2011 and the Australian defense force’s sharing of their aero-medical evacuation experience with Vietnam and their assistance of medical equipment and vehicles for Vietnam’s deployment of its forces to UN Missions in the past.
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The two prime ministers, leaders and personnel of the second L2FH of Vietnam in a joint photo |
For his part, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly valued the Australian PM’s sentiment for Vietnam, its people and military as well as Australia’s practical and effective support for Vietnam’s deployment of its peacekeeping forces to UN peacekeeping missions.
Phuc also mentioned Vietnam’s strategy to build the UN’s model unit with the active participation of female personnel and functioning without plastic waste, emphasizing that the coordination in UN peacekeeping operations will contribute to strengthening the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership for the sake of peace and security in the world.
Translated by Tran Hoai