Efforts to construct a Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Monument got underway on November 20 in Tbong Khmum province in Cambodia.

At the groundbreaking ceremony 

The structure is one of 22 monuments across the neighbouring country that is being rebuilt or upgraded in order to recognise the great contributions made by Vietnamese and Cambodian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in order to liberate Cambodia from former leader Pol Pot’s genocidal regime.

The monument is set to be built across a four-hectare campus that is part of the province’s new administrative centre.

The groundbreaking ceremony saw the presence of several key figures, including Vietnamese Defense Attaché Nguyen Thanh Chinh, Secretary of State at the Cambodia Ministry of Cults and Religion and Standing Vice Chairman cum Secretary General of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodian Motherland Nhem Valy, among others.

Those in attendance at the event lit candles in order to honour and commemorate the heroic martyrs of both sides who laid down their lives for the cause of Cambodian liberation.

The Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Monument is viewed as a demonstration of the traditional solidarity between the two countries, helping younger generations to gain a better understanding of the value of peace and freedom, as well as the solidarity and mutual support that has historically exists between the two nations.