Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Defence, Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem, who is also Chairperson of the Vietnamese Government Specialised Committee, co-chaired the event with Senior Advisor of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Seang Lapress, who is also Vice Chairman of the Cambodian Governmental Specialised Committee.
Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem highly appreciated the effective direction from the Cambodian Government's special committee on the organisation and implementation of coordination activities with the Vietnamese side in the search and repatriation of Vietnamese martyrs who sacrificed themselves in Cambodia.
He affirmed that, despite the global situation witnessing fluctuations, Vietnamese and Cambodian relations have been constantly strengthened and developed in the spirit of " good neighbours, traditional friendship, and sustainable, long-term and comprehensive cooperation," contributing to strengthening and deepening the good neighbourly relations between the State, military and people of the two countries.
During the 2017-2018 dry season, the authorities of the two countries have coordinated in collecting 690 martyrs’ remains. The result reflects the high responsibility and efforts of the Cambodian military, local authorities and people, expressing their deep gratitude to those who sacrificed themselves for the independence of each country and the interest of both parties for the search and repatriation of Vietnamese martyrs, volunteers and experts’ remains in Cambodia.
Advisor Seang Lapress affirmed that, based on the agreements signed between the two Governments, the two governmental committees have developed plans and directed the military zones, localities and working missions to effectively deploy the work of searching for, collecting and repatriating the Vietnamese martyrs’ remains in Cambodia.
He affirmed that Cambodia will continue to cooperate with Vietnam in the work in order to achieve high efficiency as planned, contributing to strengthening the growing friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
At the meeting, the two sides agreed to continue coordinating the search, collection and repatriation of the remains of Vietnamese martyrs, volunteer soldiers and specialists during the wartime in Cambodia until there is no information on the burial sites of the remaining graves.
Both sides reached a consensus that the two countries' governmental committees should work closely together to direct the propaganda and mobilisation of local people to provide information on martyrs and their graves, improve the efficiency of the search and collection, and regularly coordinate and exchange to remove difficulties in organising the work.
On the occasion, the Vietnamese Governmental Specialised Committee provided support funding to the Cambodian side to cover the search, collection and repatriation of Vietnamese martyrs’ remains in Cambodia during the 2018-2019 dry season.
