Hanoi (VNA) – A ceremony to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the victory of the southwestborder defence war and the joint victory on January 7 of Vietnam and Cambodiaover the genocidal regime was held in Hanoi on January 4 with the participationof high-ranking leaders of the two countries.

The event was organised by the Party Central Committee, the NationalAssembly, the State, and the Government in conjunction with the VietnamFatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that thehistoric victory on January 7, 1979 was a joint victory of the peoples of bothcountries, as well as of the progressive people across the world.

For Vietnam, the victory of the southwest borderdefence war once again affirmed the will and strength of the Vietnamesepeople, while demonstrating the noble international spirit, the traditional fraternaland time-honoured relationship, and the pure and wholehearted help from theVietnamese Party, State, armies and people to the Cambodian people.

The joint victory on January 7, 1979 completely eliminated the genocidal regime, helping revivethe Cambodian nation and people as well as opening up a new era of independence,freedom, peace, reconciliation, development, andprosperity for Cambodia, he said.

PM Phuc noted that after years at trial with hundreds of thousands of collecteddocuments and pieces of evidence, on November 16, 2018, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) under the auspices of the United Nations officiallysentenced the two most senior surviving leaders of the former Polpot regime tolife in prison for committing genocide.

The judgment returns justice toinnocent victims who were massacred by the Pol Pot regime, and affirmed the brightjust as well as impartial and pure support of the Vietnamese volunteer soldiersin Cambodia, he stressed.

Many monuments commemorating Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts and Cambodiansoldiers and people were built by the two Governments in both Vietnam andCambodia, PM Phuc said, adding that they have become beautiful symbols of theclose and unshakable friendship between the two nations.

By now, under the reign of the Cambodian King and the leadership of CambodianPeople’s Party (CPP), the country has grown strong with political security,social order, and safety well maintained and its economy growing ceaselessly. Cambodia’srole and position has been constantly improved in the region and the world.

Vietnam and Cambodia are promoting their relationship under the motto of “good neighbours, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability”. Thepolitical relations between the two countries have been constantly strengthened,while their economic, trade, investment, and tourism ties have also beengrowing over time.

Other fields of cooperation – such as people-to-people exchange and culture,education-training, and health collaboration – have also witnessed activedevelopment.

According to PM Phuc, the border areas of the two countries which were heavilydevastated in past wars have now become those of peace, friendship, cooperation,and mutual development.

Authorities of the two countries have worked closely to strictly manage theborder line, and finished 84 percent of theland border demarcation and marker planting.They are determined to finalise the work as soon as possible.

Addressing the event, Standing Member of the CPP Central Committee and Vice President of the Senate of Cambodia Tep Ngorn emphasised that his country and Vietnam are good friends, neighbours,and partners.

The two countries have stepped into a new period in history by regaining independence,sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace, freedom, and progress; thuscontributing to peace and security, cooperation, prosperity, economicdevelopment in the region and the world, he said.

The Cambodian official expressed his sincere gratitude to the Party,State, the VFF, the army and the people of Vietnam for their great sacrifices to save Cambodian people from genocide,contributing to the quest of peace for the country.

According to him, Vietnam’s great, timely and effective support has helped turnCambodia from a country immersed in war, sufferings and devastation into a countryof complete peace, national unity, and development in all areas.

He highlighted the significance of the exchange of the state-level and officialvisits between the two countries’ leaders in recent years, stating that theyhave contributed to deepening the traditional solidarity, friendship, andcooperation.

The bilateral relations are represented by achievements in all fields, frompolitics and military to economic, social, cultural, and scientificcooperation, he said.

The trade, investment, and tourism cooperation between the two countries areincreasingly promoted; while the two sides have devised many effective solutionsto border-related issues, especially as the work in border demarcation and markerplanting is nearly finished, Tep Ngorn said.

These factors have helped create a good environment for maintaining peace andstability, while promoting economic growth and poverty reduction in bothnations, he affirmed.

He took the occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, State, front and people whohave always given their physical and ideological support to the development ofhuman resources and infrastructure construction in Cambodia.

He affirmed that the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the victory of the southwest border defence war and the joint victory is very significant in further promoting thesolidarity, friendship, and cooperation between his country and Vietnam. –VNA