The awards ceremony was held in Phnom Penh on January 21 and co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Defence, Sen. Lieu. Gen. Nguyen Van Duoc and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Tea Banh.

Deputy Minister Duoc expressed his deep gratitude to the State, government, army and people of Cambodia for their role in locating, collecting and repatriating the remains of volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives in Cambodia during wartime.

He read the State President’s decision to present the Friendship Order to 31 collectives and 10 individuals, and the Friendship Medal to 192 individuals.

He also introduced the Prime Minister’s decision to confer the Certificate of Merit on 38 collectives and 379 individuals, and the Minister of Defence’s decision to grant the Certificate of Merit to eight individuals.

For his part, Deputy PM and Defence Minister Tea Banh praised the effective cooperation between Cambodia and Vietnam in implementing a governmental-level agreement on locating and repatriating the remains of heroic Vietnamese martyrs.

Effective and mutual assistance during difficult times has become an honoured tradition of the two nations, said Mr Tea Banh.

He thanked the Vietnamese government and Ministry of Defence for providing regular assistance to the Cambodian Royal Army and people and expressed his belief that their traditional friendship, solidarity and cooperation will grow even stronger in the future.