The military headquarters of Vietnam’s southern province of Tay Ninh and the Cambodian province of Tbong-Khmum signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on military cooperation on February 5.

The MoU focuses on seven key areas of future cooperation between the two sides, including greater collaboration on maintaining security and public order; combating crime along their shared border; mutual support on border delineation and land marker planting; and enhancing joint efforts to search for and return the remains of Vietnamese volunteers and soldiers who lost their lives during the war in Tbong-Khumum.

Both sides agreed to create favourable conditions for cross-border trade and healthcare, enhance experience exchange and organise arts-culture and sports events.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Colonel Vo Van Thi, head of the Tay Ninh Military Headquarters, hailed recent efforts of the two provinces to maintain a shared border of “peace and friendship”.

About 40 of the intended 42 border markers have been placed, with the remaining two to be completed this year. Since early 2014, over 66 leads have been verified with 26 martyr bodies uncovered and returned to their home country by Tay Ninh province’s Team K71 and Tbong-Khmum province, he added.

During the search for martyr remains, Team K71 presented gifts to and offered medical checkups for local residents in Cambodia while the Cambodian provincial armed forces called for information from the local people to provide direction for the search team.-VNA