Lieutenant General Le Ngoc Hai, Commander of Military Region 5 (Vietnam People’s Army), and Lieutenant General Ly So Rarith, Commander of Military Region 1 (Royal Cambodian Armed Forces), jointly chaired the conference.
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An overview of the meeting |
At the meeting, both sides highly valued the outcomes of cooperation over the past year. The contents agreed upon at the 24th annual meeting (in 2024) were effectively implemented. The two sides maintained regular exchanges, information sharing, and close coordination among functional forces in joint patrols and border control, promptly preventing illegal border crossings and immigration activities, thereby contributing to maintaining political security, social order, and safety in border areas.
In the search, collection, and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and advisors who laid down their lives in Cambodia, Cambodia’s Military Region 1 closely coordinated with Teams K51, K52, and K53 under Vietnam’s Military Region 5. During the 2024-2025 dry season, 50 sets of martyrs’ remains were recovered. In addition, Military Region 1 actively advised local authorities to support the Vietnamese community living and working in Cambodia, coordinated to protect border demarcation achievements, and strengthened public awareness among the people of both countries on the importance of safeguarding border markers and maintaining peace along the shared border.
For its part, Vietnam’s Military Region 5 assisted Cambodian units in barracks construction and renovation, equipment support, and sent medical teams to provide free examinations, medicines, and gifts to Cambodian people.
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The two sides sign the minutes of their 25th meeting |
Both sides agreed on the cooperation plan for 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, focusing on enhancing education and dissemination among officers, soldiers, and people, especially the younger generations, about the traditional friendship and comprehensive, sustainable, long-term cooperation between the two countries and their militaries. They also agreed to maintain regular information exchange and close coordination in border management and protection, crime prevention, natural disaster response, and search and rescue, in accordance with the Protocol on Defense Cooperation signed on July 20, 2017, between the Ministries of National Defense of Vietnam and Cambodia.
On this occasion, Lieutenant General Le Ngoc Hai and the Military Region 5 delegation offered incense and flowers at the Cambodia-Vietnam Heroic Martyrs’ Memorial and visited the Memorial Site of Military Region 5’s Front 579 in Cambodia.
Translated by Trung Thanh