Cambodians remember Vietnam soldiers’ help in escaping from genocide

• Deputy Minister meets former Vietnamese public security experts in Cambodia
• PM Hun Sen accentuates successful Vietnam-Cambodia defence cooperation
• Undeniable role of Vietnamese soldiers in Cambodia’s victory

Cambodian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Im Hen addresses the meeting on January 4 (Photo: VNA)

Cambodian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Im Hen made the statement at a meeting in the city on January 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the victory of the southwest border defence war and the joint victory of Vietnam and Cambodia over the Pol Pot genocidal regime (January 7, 1979).

Cambodian people have come to consider January 7 as their second birthday. Without this day, there would have been nothing today, he said.

The official also expressed his deep gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, Government, and ex-voluntary soldiers and experts for supporting the Cambodian nation and people in escaping from the genocidal regime.

The development of Cambodia over the past 40 years could not be separated from the close coordination between the two countries’ parties, states, and people, especially Vietnam’s assistance for Cambodia in the difficult period of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as in the later’s cause of national building and development.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Huynh Cach Mang said Vietnamese voluntary soldiers stood side by side with Cambodian armed forces and people to defeat the Pol Pot gang, liberate Phnom Penh, abolish the genocidal regime, and build a new society for Cambodian people.

January 7, 1979 went down in the history of Cambodia as a milestone of faithful solidarity and special friendship between itself and Vietnam, which helped Cambodia escape from the genocide and enter a new era of independence, freedom, and revival.

It also opened up a new chapter in the neighbourliness between Vietnam and Cambodia, Mang said.

Over the past 40 years, the bilateral traditional friendship has been developed to a new height. Economic cooperation has continuously expanded with two-way trade reaching 4.5 billion USD in 2018 and set to hit 5 billion USD ahead of 2020.