Vietnam initiative adopted at ARMAC Steering Committee meeting hinh anh 1Overview of ARMAC Steering Committee's 13th meeting (Source: VNA)

Phnom Penh (VNA) - The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre (ARMAC) agreed on the establishment of the Friends of ARMAC (FOA) group, initiated by Vietnam, at the 13th meeting of its Steering Committee on September 1.

The meeting was held in Phnom Penh via video conference under the chair of Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh.

ARMAC members voted at the meeting for a new Executive Director of the ARMAC Secretariat in the 2021-2023 tenure.

With all 10 “yes” votes, Prum Suonpraseth, a Cambodian national who was formerly the provisional Executive Director of ARMAC from 2017-2018, was re-elected to the position.

Participants at the meeting also assessed the centre’s activities in recent times and set forth orientations from now to the end of 2020 amid the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ARMAC is a centre of excellence under ASEAN Security Cooperation to encourage efforts to address landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) for interested ASEAN member states. Inaugurated on May 25, 2016, the centre aims to collectively tackle the humanitarian aspects of landmines and ERW through an integrated approach of experience sharing, skills training, and other capacity building activities.

Vietnam has contributed 10,000 USD to the centre’s activities this year./.
VNA