Vietnam attaches importance to strengthening relations with Cambodia
Vietnam prioritizes strengthening the traditional friendship, good neighbourly relations, and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia, in the interest of the two peoples, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the rest of the world.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was speaking while receiving outgoing Cambodian ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth, at a reception in Hanoi on January 6.
He highly appreciated Cambodia’s rapid development in all fields, and expressed his belief the successful organization of the local election in June 2022 would lay a firm foundation for Cambodia to successfully host the seventh general election in July 2023. He also congratulated Cambodia on successes it had reaped in its role as ASEAN Chair 2022 and AIPA-43 Chair in 2022.
Ambassador Chay Navuth thanked the Party, State and people of Vietnam for having provided assistance to the Cambodian people and the ambassador personally during his working term in Vietnam, affirming Cambodia’s success cannot be separated from Vietnam’s assistance in all circumstances.
According to the diplomat, besides helping Cambodia overthrow the genocidal Pol Pot regime in the past, Vietnam has in recent times cooperated closely with Cambodia in many fields, including human resource training, COVID-19 prevention and control, and economic cooperation.
Both host and guest were happy that cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia has yielded positive results over the years through regular reciprocal visit exchanges and existing cooperation mechanisms.
Economic cooperation is a prominent highlight in bilateral cooperation, with two-way trade turnover rising 13.2% as of November 2022 to reach US$9.77 billion. Currently, Vietnam has 198 valid investment projects in Cambodia with a total registered capital of US$2.92 billion, ranking first in ASEAN and in the top five countries with the largest direct investment in Cambodia.
Both countries jointly organized many activities in 2022 within the framework of the ‘Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year 2022’, and to mark 55 years of bilateral diplomacy.
PM Chinh proposed that in his new position, the ambassador would continue to make active contributions to cultivating the tradition of solidarity, friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between the two countries.
He conveyed his New Year greetings to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen, other leaders and people of Cambodia.
