Gen. Cuong expressed his delight at the development of the Vietnam - Philippines strategic partnership across all fields. He said that the bilateral defense cooperation has been promoted, reaping practical results in delegation exchange, effective maintenance of consultation and dialogue mechanisms, cooperation between arms and services, training, and mutual support and coordination at ASEAN-let forums and mechanisms.
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Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Tan Cuong (R) receives Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño. |
The Vietnamese official stressed that the ongoing official visit to the Philippines of the high-ranking delegation of the MND led by Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang, demonstrates the importance attached to and the willing to develop the bilateral defense relations in the coming time.
For his part, Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño informed the host about the outcomes of his earlier working session with Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Hien, Commanding General of the Air Defense - Air Force Service, during which the two sides reviewed the two forces’ cooperation achievements over the past time and agreed on the cooperation orientations in the time ahead.
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Gen. Cuong presents a souvenir to Gen. Stephen Parreño. |
The Philippine official thanked the Vietnam side for enhancing air cooperation with the Philippines. He affirmed that his country’s senior leader and the leadership of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines always encourage the Philippine Air Force to intensify collaboration with air forces of ASEAN member states, including Vietnam.
Gen. Cuong spoke highly of the practical and effective coordination between the two air forces, particularly in maintenance of joint working group mechanism, delegation exchange, and expertise exchange. He suggested the two sides keep all-level contact and working channels, and boost exchanges, including expertise ones.
The Vietnamese general confirmed that leaders of the Vietnamese MND and People’s Army will continue supporting and creating the best conditions for the two air forces to accelerate their coordination.
Earlier, Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Hien hosted a welcome ceremony and had a working session with the Philippine air chief.
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Chief of the Air Defense - Air Force Service Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Hien welcomes his counterpart from the Philippines Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño. |
At the event, both generals emphasized that bilateral defense ties have brought about substantive outcomes and truly become an important pillar in the two countries’ relations, making positive contribution to consolidating solidarity and ASEAN’s central role in regional security architecture.
Given the Vietnamese Defense Minister’s aforementioned visit, Gen. Hien said that it would open up more cooperation contents and serve as a momentum and a firm foundation for the two air forces to bolster their cooperative ties for the benefit of both sides.
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Gen. Hien and Gen. Stephen Parreño review the guards-of-honor of the Air Defense - Air Force Service. |
Both air chiefs highly praised the two forces’ effective implementation of cooperation activities, including delegation, expertise exchange, information sharing, and mutual support at multilateral forums. They stressed that the two sides have established and successfully organized the air force consultation meeting twice. Attentively, the two sides have signed terms of reference on consultation between the two air forces, a clear testament to the two sides’ efforts to lift the cooperation to a new height.
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A view of the working session |
To continue upholding and consolidating the cooperative ties in the time to come, both officials agreed to coordinate to carry out existing contents, such as all-level delegation exchange, sharing of information, expertise exchange in terms of education and training and scientific research, and organization of the third air force consultation meeting, expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year in Vietnam.
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The two delegations in a group photo |
Gen. Hien stressed that the Vietnam visit of Gen. Stephen Parreño would create a new driving force for the two air forces’ cooperation. He expressed his belief that the discussed and agreed contents would be promptly implemented, thereby fostering collaboration between the two air forces in particular and the two militaries and peoples in general.
Translated by Mai Huong