Delegates from all 10 ASEAN states pledged coordination in training UN peacekeeping forces at the close of a conference in Phnom Penh yesterday.

Major General Ker Savoeun, director of the Defence Ministry’s peace-keeping centre, said high-level “exchanges” were agreed upon in which peacekeeping heads would facilitate “an exchange in expertise”.

“All ASEAN members agree that Cambodia has demining experts, so they will send people over,” he said. For their part, Cambodian blue helmets may be sent to the Philippines for training on how to ensure the military element of a UN operation interfaces with its humanitarian and human rights components.

Separately, the Japanese government signed off on $801,499 in funding yesterday for the Cambodia Mine Action Centre to increase demining capacity in Battambang.