This exchange is scheduled to take place in mid-December this year in the shared border areas of the three countries, namely Vietnam’s Kon Tum, Laos’ Attapeu, and Cambodia’s Ratanakiri. The Vietnamese delegation will be led by Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang while the Lao delegation will be headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Laos General Chansamone Chanyalath and the Cambodian delegation by Deputy PM and Defense Minister of Cambodia Gen. Tea Seiha.
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Major General Le Xuan Sang speaks at the meeting with the press. |
In this exchange, key activities will include the saluting and painting of the sovereign marker by three defense ministers; the joint patrol and checking of the marker at the border junction of the three countries by the border protection forces of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; joint military medical exercise among three militaries; the inauguration of the cultural house at Ta Ka village, Po Y commune, Kon Tum province’s Ngoc Hoi district; the three defense ministers’ visit and gift presentation to Be Van Dan Primary School in Po Y commune; the annual meeting of the three defense ministers; and the signing of cooperation agreements.
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Participants at the press meeting |
Sidelines activities ahead the exchange will be the working session between Gen. Giang and the Standing Board of the Kon Tum provincial Party Committee, free health check-ups and medicines for border people, granting of 200 scholarships to border students, and the handover of 40 breeding cows to disadvantaged households in border areas.
Senior Colonel Nguyen Duy Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Relations, stressed that this first-ever exchange aims to realize the cooperation plan 2023 between the MND of Vietnam and its Lao and Cambodian counterparts. This is an important event since it is the first time the MNDs of the three countries will organize an exchange in the shared border areas of the three countries. Its success will help promote political trust, build friendship and solidarity among the three countries as well as strengthen practical cooperation among their border protection forces.
Col. Minh added that exchange activities will contribute to boosting economic development and people-to-people exchange in border areas, spreading the solidarity, friendship and mutual support among the governments, militaries, and peoples of the three countries, thus building the Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia border of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation, and development.
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An overview of the press meeting |
As the chair of the meeting, Major General Le Xuan Sang, Deputy Director of the Department of Political Education and Information under the General Department of Political Affairs, hoped press agencies will popularize the goal, meaning and key activities of the exchange.
Also at the press meeting, Maj. Gen. Van Ngoc Que, Deputy Political Director of the Vietnam Border Guard gave a briefing on the outcomes of the external border affairs with Laos and Cambodia in recent years, the Vietnam Border Guard Command’s preparations for the exchange. Senior Colonel Le Van Dong, Deputy Director of the Military Medical Department informed the press on the joint military medical exercise within the upcoming exchange.
Translated by Mai Huong