Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Officer training marks enduring VN military cooperation: officials

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chean Sokha
Monday, 23 February 2009

A flow of RCAF officers continues to swell Vietnamese military academies as Kingdom inaugurates first National Defence University.

UP to 500 officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces will be sent each year to receive advanced training in Vietnam as part of ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries, officials said.

Ieng Sophalleth, spokesman for Prime Minister Hun Sen, said that more than 4,000 RCAF officers had so far received training in Vietnam, with Hanoi reaffirming its willingness to continue receiving Cambodian officers for advanced studies.

"Samdech Hun Sen has proposed that Vietnam help with training Cambodian military officers, in order to help develop [RCAF's] human resources," he told reporters Saturday after a meeting between Hun Sen and Vietnam's Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh.

"The defence ministries of Vietnam and Cambodia have long had a good cooperation."

Ieng Sophalleth said that Phung Quang Thanh had also thanked Cambodia for its cooperation in finding the remains of Vietnamese troops missing in Cambodia during fighting with Khmer Rouge soldiers in 1979.

Close cooperation

Pang Savan, director of the International Relations Department at the Ministry of Defence, said that Cambodia was sending between 400 and 500 officers to train in Vietnam each year, and around 100 for similar training in China.

"We have sent our officials to train in Vietnam for long and short terms," he said Sunday, adding that Vietnam was also providing free medical treatment to visiting Cambodian military.

Pang Savan added that the Ministry of Defence had established a National Defence University, which had provided 10 four-year officer scholarships - five to Laos and another five to Myanmar.

"We have defence cooperation not just with Vietnam but with India, China, the US, France and so on," he said.

During his visit Friday through Sunday, Phung Quang Thanh also met with Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin and Defence Minister Tea Banh.

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