KON TUM (ANN/VIETNAM NEWS) – The inaugural Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Border Defence Friendship Exchange commenced on Thursday with a formal welcome ceremony for the Lao and Cambodian delegations. This event took place at the border junction of Vietnam’s Kon Tum Province, Laos’ Attapeu Province, and Cambodia’s Ratanakiri Province.
Under the leadership of General Phan Văn Giang, a Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, and Minister of National Defence of Vietnam, the welcoming ceremony was conducted with solemnity.
The Lao delegation, led by General Chansamone Chanyalath, a Politburo member, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of National Defence of Laos, and the Cambodian delegation, headed by General Tea Seiha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia, participated in the ceremony.
The primary objective of organising the first Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Border Defence Friendship Exchange is to implement the 2023 cooperation plan among the Ministries of National Defence of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
This initiative aims to enhance political trust, foster friendship and solidarity, and facilitate practical collaboration among the border protection forces, local governments, and people in the border areas of these three nations.
Furthermore, the exchange seeks to establish a border region among Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia characterized by peace, friendship, stability, cooperation, and development.
It serves as a powerful message of solidarity, friendship, and mutual support between the Governments, armies, and peoples of the three nations.
As part of the inaugural Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Border Defence Friendship Exchange, a series of activities were organised.
These included the inauguration of the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Friendship Cultural House in Ta Ka Village, the distribution of gifts to Be Van Dan Primary School in Po Y Commune, and collaborative military medical exercises involving the armed forces of the three countries.
The construction of the cultural house was started on July 17, 2023. The two-storey cultural house was built with the Central Highlands communal house-style architecture. Funding for the construction was provided by the Ministry of National Defence of Vietnam.
Also on Thursday morning, the delegations of the three countries visited and gave gifts to students of Bế Văn Đàn Primary School in Pờ Y Commune, Ngọc Hồi District in the Central Highlands of Kon Tum Province.
After visiting the school, the three countries’ delegations together witnessed a joint military medical exercise at the intersection of Bo Y International Border Gate’s Toll Station in Ngọc Hoi District.
Recently, small earthquakes with high intensity have been recorded in the border area of the three countries.
Therefore, the military medical forces under the direction of the Ministers of National Defence of the three countries organised a joint exercise, coordinating with local medical forces to treat earthquake victims to proactively respond to natural disasters, as well as being ready to participate in medical relief on a regional and world scale when required.
Rehearsal activities include combined military medical command; action to rescue victims at the scene; soldiers trained to receive, classify, provide first aid, and treat victims at a mass casualty emergency station (deployed in an open field, with convenient roads, about 500 metre from the rescue site), and transport serious victims to the hospital by ambulance and helicopter (the helicopter landing site is 500m from the mass casualty emergency station).
On the occasion, the annual meeting between the Ministers of Defence of the three countries as well as the signing ceremony of cooperation documents among the three countries were also set to take place.
At the annual meeting, the three Ministers of National Defence assessed that in recent times, the three countries’ ministries of national defence have always coordinated closely and effectively deployed the common awareness of the three countries’ senior leaders on military cooperation, national defence cooperation, achieving practical effects, notably maintaining the effectiveness of the Annual Meeting mechanism among the three Ministers of National Defence (established since 2012).
The three countries’ militaries conducted joint rescue exercises in Laos in 2022, and joint military medical exercises to respond to non-traditional security challenges within the framework of the exchange.
The Ministers of National Defence of the three countries affirmed that with the joint efforts of the three countries, the recent border situation had been kept stable. The border areas were secured, arising incidents were promptly detected and handled.
Regarding the direction of cooperation in the future, the Ministers of National Defence of the three countries agreed to focus on promoting cooperation such as strengthening the foundation of political trust, increasing exchanging delegations at high levels, effectively deploying mechanisms such as the annual meeting between the three countries’ National Defence Ministers, the Deputy Minister-level Defence Policy Dialogue, increasing high-level meetings on the sidelines of multilateral events and forums, and educating the army, people, and especially the young generation about the history, meaning, and importance of the solidarity of the three countries and the three armies.
