(Phnom Penh): During his three-day official visit to Cambodia, Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Muhammad Haszaimi Bin Bol Hassan, Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), was warmly welcomed by General Vong Pisen, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), on Friday afternoon (Sep. 19) at the RCAF General Headquarters.
In their bilateral discussions, both delegations highly valued the progress made in relations and military cooperation between the two nations. They reaffirmed their commitment to further enhance and deepen bilateral military ties and collaborative efforts.
General Vong Pisen considered the visit timely, coinciding with the 33rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Brunei, which began in 1992. He noted that the cooperation between the two nations has continued to grow stronger and expand across multiple sectors.
In the military domain, the commander-in-chief praised the past cooperation, highlighting Brunei’s contributions to the development of Cambodia’s military human resources. This includes offering scholarships for command and staff courses, English language training, and inviting Cambodian military officers to participate in various conferences held in Brunei.
Representing the RCAF, General Vong Pisen expressed his appreciation to ASEAN member states, particularly the Government and Armed Forces of Brunei, for supporting the ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand and for participating in the temporary observer mission in Cambodia.
General Vong Pisen also proposed that Brunei continue to promote discussions aimed at reaching a memorandum of understanding on various areas, including reciprocal visits, strengthening different military branches, exchanging intelligence to combat transnational crimes such as human trafficking, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, cybercrime, terrorism, humanitarian missions, disaster response, and joint military exercises.
In response, Major General Dato Haszaimi expressed his pleasure at returning to Cambodia and extended his gratitude for the warm hospitality extended by the commander-in-chief, reflecting close ties and a shared desire to deepen and expand the relationship between the two countries and their armed forces.
Major General Dato Haszaimi also expressed keen interest in Cambodia’s leadership role in promoting the participation of women in peacekeeping missions. He praised the commendable proportion of female peacekeepers, reflecting Cambodia’s strong commitment to peacekeeping and to gender equality in the military.
Regarding the Cambodia-Thailand border situation, the Brunei military commander expressed satisfaction that Brunei’s armed forces had contributed to the interim observer mission in the border areas, which is a testament to ASEAN’s solidarity and collective responsibility.
He emphasized that Brunei remains fully committed to working closely with Cambodia in the field of national defence in a cooperative spirit, with forward-looking perspectives aligned with ASEAN’s broader objectives.
=FRESH NEWS
