PANO – Australian Air-Chief Marshal Angus Houston, on October 13th, visited Unit 871 and talked with Vietnamese officers who are learning English at the unit.

Senior Colonel Nguyen Dinh Binh receives Australian Air-Chief Marshal Augus Houston

Welcoming the Australian Air-Chief Marshal, who has been in Vietnam to attend the first ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus, Senior Colonel Nguyen Dinh Binh, Head of Unit 871, said that the defence cooperation between Australia and Vietnam has developed well.

“Since 1999, Australia has been provided training in English language for 744 Vietnamese cadets at this unit only. 306 of them have been sent to Australia for further training,” Col. Binh said.

Mr. Houston talks happily with cadets at the unit.

“These cadets have been doing well in their positions since they returned from training courses in Australia,” Col. Binh added.

Meanwhile, ACM Houston said that, in his meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Khac Nghien, Mr. Nghien said that there are more than 1,100 Vietnamese cadets who have joined English language courses provided by Australia.

This number showed that this is a successful cooperation programme, ACM Houston said.

Mr. Houston in a group photo with the cadets.

On this visit, the Air-Chief Marshal also talked with Vietnamese cadets who are learning English at the unit under the cooperation programme between the two defence forces.

Earlier, on October 11, Australian Minister for Defence, Mr. Stephen Smith and Vietnamese Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation.

Ngoc Hung