Addressing the event, Yim Sokhom, member of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Central Committee and Standing Vice Chairman of the Kampong Speu Committee of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodian Motherland, said the monument repair and upgrade project started in February 2020 and worked on different segments at the site. The monument alone covers an area of 16.5 square metres and is 19 metres tall.
The project finished in December 2020, but its inauguration was delayed for several reasons, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.
The official thanked the Vietnamese Government, army, and people, particularly the Ministry of National Defence, for funding the repair and upgrade of the Cambodia - Vietnam friendship monuments across his country.
The monument in Kampong Speu province is one of 23 built and upgraded in Cambodia recently.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang said the monument in Kampong Speu and others across Cambodia are a demonstration of the solidarity and cooperation between the two countries and militaries, who surmounted countless difficulties to gain independence and peace for their country, including defeating the genocidal Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.
He expressed his hope that the friendship monument in Kampong Speu will become a site for the countries’ youth to come to learn about the special friendship between the Vietnamese and Cambodian people and militaries, as well as the value of peace so as to contribute to national development.
The Vietnamese side is ready to work with the Cambodian Solidarity Front’s National Council and administrations of localities to complete the building of friendship monuments, thereby helping affirm the countries’ solidarity and reinforce cooperation, the diplomat said.
Nhem Valy, member of the CPP Central Committee, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Cults and Religions, Standing Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Cambodian Solidarity Front’s National Council, highlighted the flourishing bilateral relations.
On behalf of the CPP, State, Front, and people of Cambodia, he once again thanked Vietnam for assisting his country to defeat the genocidal Pol Pot regime and obtain the ultimate victory on January 7, 1979.
