Malaysian PM supports defence cooperation with Vietnam

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has confirmed that the Govenrment and he personnally support the enhancement of defence partnership with Vietnam to propel the bilateral friendship and multi-faceted cooperation forward.

He made the remark at a reception for Minister of Defence, General Ngo Xuan Lich, in Kuala Lumpur on October 27.

The stronger defence collaboration at sea between the two countries will help maintain solidarity and the central and leading role of ASEAN for regional peace, stability and development, he said.

Minister Lich said Vietnam always gives priority to reinforcing and furthering the friendly cooperative ties and trust between Vietnam and Malaysia .

He added that Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence will continue working closely and effectively with the Malaysian counterpart to enhance the two countries’ relations.

Earlier on October 26, he had talks with Malaysian Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein, during which the two sides agreed that there is a plenty of room for the bilateral defence cooperation.

They were unanimous in several measures to increase high-level delegation exchanges, information and experience sharing in the fields of their strengths, step up cooperation in training, military medicine, and defence industry, and promote connectivity between research institutes on strategic issues.

The two ministers agreed to boost consultation at multilateral forums with the purpose of cementing trust and affiliation among nations in and outside the region as well as support each other at multilateral defence events in ASEAN.

To promptly exchange strategic issues and accelerate the implementation of the defence cooperation plan in the coming time, the two sides concurred to soon establishing consultation and dialogue mechanisms.

The ministers also discussed issues of mutual concerns and agreed that the region is facing with a number of complicated security challenges that needs to be addressed by countries' joint efforts based on international law and standards.

During his official visit to Malaysia from October 25-27 to promote the friendship, mutual understanding and trust between the two countries’ armies and people, Minister Lich also visited the Vietnamese Embassy and the overseas Vietnamese community in the host country.-VNA