Vietnam, Cambodia to hold 2nd border defense friendship exchange next week

At a press conference in Hanoi on Wednesday, Colonel Dang Thanh Minh, deputy director of the ministry’s Department of External Relations, said the exchange will be co-chaired by Vietnamese Minister of National Defense General Phan Van Giang and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Tea Seiha.

In Vietnam, the exchange program will include an official welcoming ceremony for the Cambodian delegation, the planting of friendship trees, a joint military medical exercise, the inauguration of a semi-boarding area at Ben Cau Elementary School in Tay Ninh Province, and a twinning ceremony between Long Cuong Hamlet in Tay Ninh and O Ta Mo Hamlet in Cambodia’s Svay Rieng Province.

The two defense ministers are set to hold talks and sign cooperation agreements to establish a unified framework for defense collaboration and generate new momentum in bilateral ties.

They will also visit the Traditional House of Division 5 under Vietnam’s Military Region 7.

In Cambodia, activities will include a welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese delegation, a visit and symbolic painting of Border Marker No. 171, friendship tree planting, a joint patrol by border management forces, and a groundbreaking ceremony for Sang Sovan Elementary School in Svay Rieng Province.

The Vietnamese delegation will also visit the headquarters of the Gendarmerie Command of Svay Rieng.

Ahead of the official exchange program, both sides will organize joint military medical activities to provide free healthcare and medicine for border residents, along with youth exchanges between young officers of the two armies.

Colonel Nguyen Nhu Truc, deputy chief of political affairs at Military Region 7, said all preparations for logistics, medical support, communications, and especially security and safety have been thoroughly completed.

Speaking at the briefing, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Duc, head of the Department of Information and Education under the Vietnam People’s Army’s General Department of Politics, said the exchange is among the most significant defense diplomacy events of 2025 for both countries.

He emphasized that the planned event demonstrates the traditional friendship, solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia, while strengthening political trust and fostering practical, effective collaboration among border forces, local authorities, and communities.

The ultimate goal, he added, is to build a peaceful, friendly, stable, and prosperous shared border.