Vietnam, Myanmar promote defence cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – Senior military officers of Vietnam and Myanmar have agreed to foster cooperative ties in the defence industry, army logistics and medical services.

During a working visit to Myanmar from June 8-12 by a Vietnamese military delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Tran Don, the two sides discussed measures to deepen bilateral defence links on par with the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two nations.

The visit aimed to review defence cooperation between the two countries in the recent past, especially after the official visit to Vietnam in March 2017 by Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the official visit to Myanmar by Vietnamese Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich in October 2017.

As part of its trip, the Vietnamese delegation paid courtesy visits to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Defence Minister of Myanmar Lieut. Gen. Sein Win, during which the Myanmar officers highlighted the high political trust between the two countries and their armies.

They stressed that defence links between Myanmar and Vietnam in a number of fields have borne fruit, especially in training, military medicine and defence industry.

The Vietnamese delegation also attended a ceremony to launch telecoms service of the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group in the Myanmar market (Mytel). The project is one of highlights of the bilateral defence cooperation in recent times.

At the ceremony and meetings with Vietnamese delegates, Myanmar’s leaders agreed to create favourable conditions for Vietnam enterprises, including defence firms, to invest in Myanmar.

During their stay, the Vietnamese delegation visited the Defence Services Academy of Myanmar, the Vietnamese Embassy and the defence attaché office in Myanmar.-VNA