Chien made the statement at a meeting with Thai defence and army attaché Colonel Anupon Naksut, Thai navy attaché Captain Warun Weerakul, and Thai air attaché Colonel Prin Yongpiyanon in Hanoi on October 27.
He highly valued the outcomes of the Vietnam-Thailand defence ties over the past years, with regular delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, the establishment and implementation of joint working groups and consultations between forces, and the organisation of the deputy ministerial policy dialogue, as well as the close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), ADMM Plus, and the ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces’ Meeting (ACDFM).
Chien suggested that this year, when Vietnam and Thailand are celebrating their strategic partnership, Thai attachés should continue to work closely with the Vietnamese side to effectively implement the cooperation agreements with a focus on all-level and high-level delegation exchanges, and the organisation of the fourth Vietnam - Thailand defence policy dialogue, and the optimising of existing cooperation mechanisms, the enhancement of collaboration and experience sharing between services and arms, and personnel training.
The host affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence’s leaders always support and create optimal conditions for the strengthening of bilateral defence ties.
On behalf of the guests, Colonel Anupon Naksut thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence for assisting Thai attachés to complete their tasks.
Holding that defence cooperation will continue to be one of the key pillars in the two countries’ strategic partnership, he affirmed that Thailand will continue to further beef up defence ties with Vietnam to be on par with the strategic partnership of the two countries.
Thailand will send a delegation to the Vietnam International Defense Expo 2022 in Hanoi this December, he said.
