Senior Lieutenant General Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, Deputy Head of Ministry of National Defense's Steering Committee on Vietnam's participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.
The event also witnessed the presence of the Triangular Partnership Project Manager Harinder Sood, Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister Kentaro Sonoura and representatives from several diplomatic agencies, foreign defense attachés, Japanese experts and international trainees.
During the course, 20 experienced Japanese experts will equip trainees with knowledge, techniques and skills to effectively use heavy engineering equipment, such as bulldozers, excavators and graders. The participants will also practice missions of an engineering team at a UN mission.
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Delegates in a group photo |
Addressing the opening ceremony, General Minh said that as Vietnam is actively making preparations for the deployment of its engineering contingent to a suitable mission as requested by the UN, the UN’s decision of choosing Vietnam to host the first training course in Southeast Asia in the project’s framework shows the UN’s recognition and active evaluation of Vietnam’s contributions to peacekeeping operations.
To make the training course a success, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff asked the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Engineering Command and relevant agencies and units to make thorough preparations as requested by the UN and Japanese experts, regularly report and deal with problems arising during the training course.
On behalf of the Ministry of National Defense, General Minh thanked the support and cooperation of countries for Vietnam’s participation in peacekeeping operations.
The Triangular Partnership Project was initiated by the UN in 2014 in a bid to strengthen the rapid deployment capacity for countries joining UN peacekeeping operations, especially the new participants. The project has been focusing on raising capacity of engineering units, including the organization of both pilot and official training courses in various countries.
Earlier on June 26, the UN Department for Field Support selected Vietnam as one of training centers in the Southeast Asia region within the project. This reflected the UN’s recognition of Vietnam’s commitments and its great achievements in participating UN peacekeeping operations and training its peacekeeping force over the past time.
Translated by Tran Hoai