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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang welcomes Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali, Secretary General of the Malaysian Ministry of Defense. |
At the dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang congratulated the Malaysian Ministry of Defense on successfully hosting ASEAN defense and military meetings during Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship. He noted that the bilateral relations have continued to develop strongly, particularly since the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November 2024.
Building on the Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation signed in December 2023, the two sides have effectively promoted cooperation in various areas, including delegation exchanges, consultation mechanisms, defense industry, and cooperation between arms and services.
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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang and Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali |
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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang and members of the Vietnamese delegation head to the meeting room for the dialogue. |
Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali highly appreciated the positive results of bilateral defense cooperation, saying that the first Defense Policy Dialogue opened up opportunities for the two sides to further deepen defense ties and contribute to promoting ASEAN centrality in maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world.
Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang expressed his hope that the two sides would continue implementing the orientations agreed upon by their defense ministers last August. Priority areas include delegation exchanges at all levels, maintenance of consultation mechanisms, cooperation between arms and services, defense industry, human resource training, and mutual support within ASEAN. The two sides will also explore potential areas of cooperation, including military medicine, cyber security and U.N. peacekeeping operations.
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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang and members of the Vietnamese delegation at the dialogue |
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister proposed that Malaysia support the English-language training for Vietnamese officers by sending instructors to Viet Nam or receiving Vietnamese officers for training in Malaysia. Viet Nam, for its part, is ready to receive Malaysian officers for the Vietnamese-language training and international defense affairs training courses at its military academies and schools.
Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang also welcomed leaders of the Malaysian Ministry of Defense, the Malaysian Armed Forces and Malaysian defense enterprises to attend and showcase their products at the third Viet Nam Defense Expo, scheduled to take place in Ha Noi in December 2026.
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Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali and members of the Malaysian delegation at the dialogue |
Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang affirmed Viet Nam’s consistent position of settling maritime issues by peaceful means in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He stressed the importance of fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (aka South China Sea) and working toward a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea.
He expressed his hope that Malaysia would continue joining Viet Nam in upholding ASEAN’s common position on the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes in accordance with international law.
Translated by Minh Anh