(VOVworld)- Vietnam will enhance international defense integration and build strategic trust to help raise the status of the Vietnam People’s Army and the Vietnamese nation in the world, said Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich during an interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the Lunar New Year Festival.

Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich (Photo: TTXVN)

General Lich said that there will be many unpredicted developments in the region and the world in 2017 and Vietnam’s resolved to prevent the risk of war, protect national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and maintain peace and stability. He said it’s crucial to prevent degradation in morality and lifestyle and to fight peaceful evolution in culture and ideology.