PHNOM PENH: The Indonesian Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, has requested the support of Prime Minister Hun Sen to train Indonesian boxers in Bokator. The request was made during Minister Prabowo's meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday afternoon, 22 June, at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

During the meeting, Minister Prabowo informed the Prime Minister that during his visit to Cambodia, he met with the Commander of the 911th Special Forces Brigade, and decided to provide scholarships to Cambodian military students to study at the Indonesian Defense Academy in the fields of medicine, engineering, mathematics, and science. Furthermore, he also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the President of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia to train athletes in Cambodia and to get Cambodia to also train Indonesian athletes in Bokator.

Prime Minister Hun Sen thanked the Indonesian side for providing scholarships to Cambodian military students and welcomed the martial arts training initiative between the two countries, as a form of cultural cooperation between the two armies.

Defense and security cooperation between Indonesia and Cambodia dates back to the 1970s. An MoU between the Indonesian National Armed Forces and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) on army-to-army talks was signed in Cambodia in December 2007. The Indonesian Armed Forces have continued to provide training assistance to the RCAF, particularly the 911th Brigade and the Prime Minister's Security Forces in the form of education and training. Further cooperation between the Indonesian National Armed Forces and the RCAF is scheduled to begin in the form of training in 2022.