Present at the event were Senior Lieutenant General Huynh Ngoc Son, former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Thanh Cung, former Deputy Defense Minister, and nearly 100 retired senior officers in the region.

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Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich addressing the event 

On behalf of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense, General Lich informed the attendees about major domestic and international political and military developments, socio-economic development, external affairs of the State and Party, defense-security missions over the past year; forecasts for 2017 and subsequent years. The defense minister spoke highly of the retired officers' contributions over the past time and stated that the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense would acknowledge their opinions to serve the national defense reinforcement and the national construction and defense cause.

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General Lich (3rd from right) speaking with retired senior officers at the event 

On the occasion of the New Year 2017, General Lich extended his greetings to attendees and expressed his hope that the retired officers would continue bringing into play virtues of "Uncle Ho's soldiers", becoming moral examples for their children and encouraging troops, to build a revolutionary, regular, elite and gradually-modernized army.

Translated by Trung Thanh