PANO – The Vietnam Marine Police held a bilateral conference with the Cambodian State Committee for Maritime Security on April 29th in Ho Chi Minh City.

The conference aimed to boost cooperation between the two sides and prepared for the third Chiefs of Maritime Law Enforcement Forces Conference to be held in September 2013.

Addressing the conference, Deputy Commander of the Vietnam Marine Police and Chief of the Staff of the Marine Force, Full Colonel Ngo Ngoc Thu said that over the past many years, Vietnam and Cambodia had seriously conducted law enforcement activities and successfully maintained maritime security in the Thailand Gulf, creating favorable conditions for legal trade, transportation and fishery.

The Vietnam Marine Force wishes to boost cooperation with maritime law enforcement forces of regional countries, including Cambodia, to ensure maritime security and safety, he stressed.

Head of the Cambodian delegation and Deputy Commander of the Tactical Department of the Cambodia Navy, Vice Admiral Tea Sokha underlined that the countries on the rim of the Thailand Gulf are now facing potential risks, like smugglings, trade fraud and piracy. He suggested that countries should closely coordinate with one another to address the risks.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed and agreed on a number of cooperative contents to deal with the 4 major issues: smugglings at sea; search and rescue of fishermen and sailors of the two nations in the peripheral seas; piracy; and environmental pollution.

In the future, the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation in such areas as information exchanges; joint search and rescue at sea; and joint patrols at sea. Particularly, the Vietnam Marine Police and the Cambodian State Committee for Maritime Security will frequently exchange information about transnational crimes, research and rescue at sea, prevention and response to oil pollution at sea via the communication channels of telephone, fax and email.

Translated by Thu Nguyen