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Defense Minister Phan Van Giang and his Lao counterpart Chansamone Chanyalath |
At the meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Chansamone Chanyalath, General Giang was informed by the Lao counterpart on his country’s COVID-19 prevention and control efforts. The Lao Deputy PM and Defense Minister also thanked the Vietnamese government and defense ministry for supporting the Lao government and people in difficult periods.
General Phan Van Giang, in turn, shared with his Lao counterpart on the COVID-19 situation in Vietnam, stressing that the country has controlled the pandemic and removed restrictions, brought people’s lives to new normal status, recovered production and tourism activities. On the occasion, General Giang also congratulated Laos for successfully controlling the pandemic and believed that Vietnam’s neighboring country will stabilize the people’s lives soon as in the pre-pandemic period.
The two defense leaders agreed that the defense bilateral ties have been increasingly enhanced in all aspects in a practical and effective manner, especially among military regions and border guard forces of the two countries.
General Giang spoke highly of the successful visit of Lieutenant General Khamliang Outhakaysone, Deputy Minister of National Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army, to Vietnam in June 2022 and other visits made by senior leaders of the Lao People’s Army over the past time.
The two defense ministries will continue holding activities to celebrate the “Vietnam-Laos and Laos-Vietnam Solidarity and Friendship Year.” They agreed that the two militaries will collaborate closely to comprehensively implement cooperation contents set by the two defense ministries. Minister Giang also thanked the Lao military units for their collaboration in searching and repatriating remains of martyrs of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and advisors in Laos.
* During the meeting with Japanese Minister of Defense Kishi Nobuo, the two ministers highly valued the remarkable development of the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership in various fields, especially after the Vietnam’s visit by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio last April.
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At the bilateral meeting between Vietnamese and Japanese defense ministers |
The bilateral defense ties have been also maintained and strengthened in accordance with the signed agreements and the guidelines of the two countries’ high-ranking leaders and defense ministries, achieving positive outcomes in several fields such as delegation exchanges, U.N. peacekeeping operations, settlement of post-war aftermath, search and rescue, humanitarian aid, and so on. These outcomes have contributed to enhancing trust and expanding other cooperation fields between the two sides.
The two defense ministers agreed to continue accelerating delegation exchanges at all levels to foster mutual understanding and implement concrete cooperative programs. Minister Giang hoped that the Japanese Defense Ministry and the Japanese Minister of Defense will continue supporting cooperation programs on improving capability of law enforcement forces at sea, settlement of post-war aftermath, and search and rescue missions via projects using non-refundable aid and official development assistance (ODA) of the Japanese government.
The two defense ministers agreed to continue collaborating closely, fulfilling their co-chair of the Experts' Working Groups (EWGs) of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+) on peacekeeping operations, giving consultation to each other at regional and global forums and actively joining multilateral events hosted by each side.
The Vietnamese Defense Ministry will host the first International Defense Exhibition in Vietnam in December, 2022. General Giang invited the Japanese defense leader to the event, while warmly welcoming Japanese defense businesses to introduce their products then.
* At the meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Tea Banh, the two officials stressed that the two sides have collaborated well to organize major events such as the first Vietnam-Cambodia Border Defense Friendship Exchange and the 45th anniversary of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s path to overthrowing the Pol Pot genocidal regime.
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General Phan Van Giang and General Tea Banh |
The two defense ministers agreed to suggest the two defense ministries to continue collaborating to successfully hold defense cooperation programs in the time to come, contributing to deepening the bilateral relations between the two countries and militaries.
Translated by Trung Thanh