"Bilateral tie between the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Self-Defense Force of Japan has moved a new step forward thanks to this Japan-backed training course," he said during the closing ceremony at the Institute for Peacekeeping Forces, Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, which was also attended by Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Kumamaru Yuji.

"This project is a new beginning of cooperation within the area of peace. Even it is small, it is of great significance with the hope for enlarging and with the most appropriate manner responding to the United Nations standards for peacekeeping," he said.

Tea Banh said the presence of Japanese military lecturers in Cambodia showed the mutual cooperation and friendship with other lecturers that Cambodia used to have like China, France, India and the United States.

"This will really help enhance the capacity of the Cambodian armed forces for contributing to the regional and international work on the area of peacekeeping operations," he added.

Lt. Gen. Sem Sovanny, general director of the National Center for Peacekeeping Force, Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, said that since 2006 to date, the country has trained 8, 030 soldiers for UN peacekeeping missions, and has sent 1,450 troops to Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Central Africa, Lebanon and Syria for humanitarian and demining operations.