Hanoi (VNA) – The major task of the CentralMilitary Commission and the Defence Ministry of Vietnam in 2018 is to reorganise the army forces to make the Vietnam People's Army elite, streamlined, strong and flexible by 2021, according to Defence Minister General Ngo XuanLich.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on thethreshold of the Lunar New Year, General Lich, who is also Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission, said that from 2018, the DefenceMinistry will adjust the organisation of some agencies and units, while seekingmeasures to tackle redundancy and ensure no rise in the number of personnel in the army.

He said that the ministry will forge stronger bilateraldefence collaboration with foreign countries in a practical and stable manner with balanced relations with world powers, while actively engaging in multilateraldefence cooperation mechanisms.

At the same time, it will focus on building andcompleting a master plan on defence diplomacy by 2020 when Vietnamtakes the charge of ASEAN Chair, he said.

The ministry will pay more attention to strengthening cooperation in politics, defence, technology, military equipment and militarytrade, and foster mutual trust, understanding and experience sharing with thearmies of other countries.

The minister said Vietnam will also organise joint border patrols and defence friendship exchanges with neighboring countries, while getting ready to deploy the field hospital level 2 to the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan,thus making active contributions to the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations.

Regardingachievements of the ministry in 2017, General Lich said that the ministrycoordinated closely with other ministries, sectors and agencies in reinforcing the all-people defence, as well as building strong defence zones with priority onmajor localities, islands and border areas.

Meanwhile,the ministry also effectively implemented the arrangement of forces and the equippingof weapons for armed troops, while merging, dissolving and transferringand forming a number of forces to make them elite, streamlined, strong and mobile.

It also launched a project to restructure, reformand improve the effectiveness of military-run enterprises, and tightened themanagement and use of military-owned land areas, he added.-VNA