Colonel Vo Van Thanh, Vietnamese Defence Attaché in the UK, speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)London (VNA) –The Vietnamese Embassy in the UK held a ceremony to mark the 75th foundinganniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) on December 9 and the 30th All-People’s Defence Festival (December 22).
Prominent among the guestsat the event was Mark Field, former Member of Parliament and former Minister ofState for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of theUK, and representatives of foreign embassies and defence attaché offices.
Colonel Vo Van Thanh,Vietnamese Defence Attaché in the UK, briefed the participants of the VPA’sdevelopment over the past 75 years and the birth of the All-People’s DefenceFestival.
Vietnam has maintaineddefence ties with more than 80 countries worldwide, he said, adding that thecountry has played an active role in regional and international cooperativeactivities in this sphere, especially UN peace-keeping operations.
The officer stressed that theVietnam-UK defence collaboration has contributed to the VPA’s development andinternational integration, with various activities like delegation exchanges,training and UN peacekeeping.
Since the two countriessigned the first memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation in 2011, bilateraldefence ties have taken big strides, contributing to their strategicpartnership.
The two sides have held theannual Defence Policy Dialogue at the deputy ministerial level, Thanh said,adding that the British Ministry of Defence is one of the leading partners ofthe Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence, especially in language andpeace-keeping force training.
On this occasion, theVietnamese Embassy and Defence Attaché Office introduced the 2019 White Paper on Vietnam’s National Defence./.
VNA
