Engineering forces of Vietnam, Laos to boost cooperation

Sen. Lt. Gen. Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, received a delegation of the Engineering Department of the General Staff of the Lao People’s Army led by its Director Maj. Gen. Viengxay Xaysamone in Hanoi on May 19.

The host official emphasised that leaders of Vietnam and Laos attach importance to the maintenance and reinforcement of great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

He perceived that defence cooperation, one of the important pillars of bilateral relations, has been enhanced unceasingly and developing comprehensively and effectively. In the Vietnam - Laos, Laos - Vietnam Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022, the two defence ministries coordinated to successfully organise a number of activities.

The Lao official informed his host about the outcomes of his delegation’s working session with the Engineering Arm of the Vietnamese army, noting that the two sides discussed and agreed on many cooperation activities such as holding mutual visits, improving capacity, and sharing experience in addressing post-war unexploded ordnance (UXO) consequences.

In response, Tan highly valued the session’s outcomes and voiced his support for the two sides to increase sharing experience in sapper training, collapse rescue operations, and bridge and road construction.

The engineering force of Vietnam is the core in searching for and dealing with UXO, as well as in assisting UXO victims and educating people on UXO accident prevention, he noted, asking both sides to step up exchanging experience in settling post-war UXO aftermath.