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Vietnam plans to send army engineers to UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan
  • | VNA | February 19, 2019 08:00 AM

Vietnam has registered 268 standby army engineers to join the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan in replacement of the UK’s by 2020.


Professional exchange between the Vietnamese and French defence ministries in June 2018 (Photo: VNA)


On of December 18, the Ministry of Defence hosted a meeting to review the preparation and settlement of difficulties for the standby army engineers set to participate in the UN peacekeeping activities.


The Politburo has agreed to assign the Ministry of Defence to deploy an engineer troop to participate in UN peacekeeping activities. On that basis, the Minister of Defence has agreed to dispatch an engineering team to replace the UK’s in 2020.

Currently, Vietnam’s registration to the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS) has been completed. The UN is conducting a review on the capacity profile of the Vietnam Army Engineering Team, requiring that Vietnam improve its major equipment and self-sustainment services, serving as a basis for the UN to send a team to Vietnam for further inspection by mid-2019.

Regarding the preparation of the team, Colonel Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, said that the department has organised training courses as well as English and French language courses for the engineers.

Negotiations are underway with the UN and the UK for engineer replacement in February 2020 when the UK peacekeepers will complete their mission and withdraw from the South Sudan Mission.

There are currently five candidates for the position, with Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam all granted level 1 readiness in the PSRS. Meanwhile, China and Croatia have the Engineering Teams, but have not registered to the system yet.

The UN has voiced support for Vietnam if the Southeast Asian country can meet the UN’s requirements on capacity, human resources and equipment.

According to Deputy Minister of Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, there is a large workload to successfully deploy the Vietnamese Engineering Team to replace the British in South Sudan in early 2020. However, the biggest issue is to make the existing equipment and the purchase of equipment meet the requirements on quality and time set by the UN, Vinh said.

Joining the UN’s peacekeeping force for the 2014-2020 period, Vietnam has so far sent 29 officers and one level-2 field hospital to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic and the UN Mission in South Sudan.

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