As part of efforts to send police officers to join UN peacekeeping forces, the government has asked the Ministry of Public Security to train police officers to the required standards, Lich said during a National Assembly discussion on a draft resolution regarding Vietnam’s engagement in UN peacekeeping operations.

In order to join UN peacekeeping operations, besides foreign language skills, the officers must have knowledge of foreign and defense policies and be able to meet the requirements of a multinational working environment.

The public security ministry has already dispatched 10 police officers to attend UN courses on training of senior officers, management and plan-making skills, foreign language skills, and professional training. The officers have been to UN peacekeeping operations in Australia, China, Malaysia, Spain and Switzerland.

The ministry has also sent eight officers to apply for different positions at the UN agencies in Italy and the U.S to establish cooperative relationships and exchange information with the specialized agencies.

Since 2014, Vietnam has sent 172 military officers and staff from the Ministry of National Defense for UN peacekeeping missions in the Central Africa Republic and South Sudan, as also deputations to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN headquarters, Lich said.

Vietnam has received more than $4.8 million from the UN and more than $20 million from the international community for the work, which has helped reduce state budget spending on these activities, he added.

Joining UN peacekeeping forces has promoted defense cooperation between Vietnam and other countries. Vietnam has signed nine memoranda of understanding on UN peacekeeping cooperation with partner countries like Australia, China, France, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the U.S.

The forces' activities have contributed to improving the position and prestige of Vietnam in the region and in the international arena and this was a factor in the nation’s successful bid for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, Lich said.

Currently, the government has asked the ministry to prepare to send about 320 sappers of the Vietnam People’s Army to join UN peacekeeping forces.

In October 2018, for the first time, Vietnam sent a team of military doctors to work at the U.N. field hospital in South Sudan. The second such team left for South Sudan last October.