Army significantly contributes to socio-economic development: PM

• PM urges efforts to complete socio-economic goals

He expressed his belief that the Vietnam People’s Army will join hands with the whole Party and people to implement successfully all tasks of 2019.

The PM agreed with the orientations and tasks defined by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence in the remainder of 2019, focusing on leading and directing accurate assessment, forecasting the situation, and consulting the Party and State to deal with situations successfully, especially in strategic areas.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the conference (Photo: VNA)

The commission and the ministry will continue directing the entire army to promote their core role of building the all-people national defence and military zones in centrally-run cities and provinces as well as attach importance to defence education and building militia and self-defence forces.

Military units will strictly maintain the readiness to fight and proactively coordinate with relevant forces to safeguard the national territorial integrity and sovereignty, political events and security, and marine economic activities as well as actively prevent foreign invasion of national sea and island sovereignty and borders via peaceful means, and create a peaceful environment to develop the country.

The Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence will direct the whole army to implement effectively international integration and external defence; consult the Party and State to well handle defence relations and create strategic balance with other countries; promote bilateral defence cooperation in a practical, stable and effective manner; and prepare well for Vietnam’s participation in defence activities as Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, helping increase the position of the Vietnamese army in the international arena.

In the first six months of 2019, Vietnamese border guards brought to light 547 drug cases, seizing 1,062 traffickers and over 1,026 kg of drugs of all kinds.