Cambodia, Japan to Continue Fostering Defence Cooperation

Phnom Penh, December 16, 2023 --

Cambodia and Japan have vowed to continue to strengthen and expand their cooperation in the field of national defence, especially in mine clearance, joint exercises in disaster relief, human resource training, and study tour programmes for Cambodian military trainees in Japan.

The commitment was reaffirmed by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet and H.E. Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff, Joint Staff for Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF), during their courtesy meeting in Tokyo this morning, on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.

H.E. Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida expressed his gratitude to the Royal Government of Cambodia for the warm hospitality to him and the JSDF delegation during their official visit to Cambodia in February 2023, and pledged to further tighten the friendship and cooperation between the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and JSDF.

In 1991, Cambodia was a country that received UN peacekeepers, but now the Kingdom has sent its blue helmet troops to fulfill peacekeeping missions under the UN umbrella in various countries, particularly in the field of demining and humanitarian aid, he said, stressing that this is a good lesson and experience that can be learned from Cambodia.

For his part, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet recalled that during his tenure as Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, he himself had enhanced the relations between the two countries' Armed Forces, leading to the signing of a TOR aiming to bring their friendship to a higher level, especially to promote practical cooperation activities to be active and vibrant with a long future.