Defence Minister Phan Van Giang held talks with his Lao counterpart Khamliang Outhakaysone on December 18 during the latter's official visit to Vietnam and attendance at the Vietnam International Defence Expo 2024.

Vietnam will reduce the number of districts by six and the number of communes by 544 after merging administrative units.

Japan considers Vietnam one of its most important partners in cooperation, raising defence capacity, a Japanese official said on May 4.

Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich highlighted the close relationship between Vietnam and Cuba while receiving Cuban Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera in Hanoi on December 12.

Defence Deputy Minister Be Xuan Truong met with Smolsky Gennady Aleksandrovich, Vice Chairman of the State Military-Industrial Committee of the Republic of Belarus, in Hanoi on November 15.