President’s State visit important to Vietnam-Cambodia relations

Hanoi, December 23 (VNA) - Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang’s upcoming State visit to Cambodia from December 23-24 is an event of great political significance in bilateral relations, with specific measures expected to be discussed to deepening the two countries’ friendship and comprehensive cooperation. Vietnam and Cambodia set up their diplomatic ties on June 24, 1967. Since then, the relations continue thriving on the motto of good neighbourliness, time-honoured friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability in many fields. The two sides maintain high-ranking delegation exchanges, including visits made by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung in 2011, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung early this year. The Cambodian King visited Vietnam in September 2012, Prime Minister Hun Sen in December 2013 and NA Chairman Heng Samrin in August this year. During the meetings, the two countries’ leaders affirmed their resolve to consolidate and further intensify the bilateral friendship and comprehensive collaboration. In terms of economic cooperation, two-way trade reached 3.34 billion USD in 2013 and 2.6 billion USD in the first 10 months of this year. The two countries are aiming for 5 billion USD in bilateral trade turnover by 2015. Vietnamese investors are running 134 projects in Cambodia with registered capital of 3.36 billion USD, focusing on industrial tree farming, mining, oil and gas exploration, telecommunications, and banking. The two countries have also coordinated closely and effectively in national defence and security through sharing information, jointly addressing matters arising along their shared borderline, maintaining joint patrols at sea, and searching for and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died during wartime in Cambodia. They are making efforts to complete the border demarcation and border marker planting in order to build a border line of peace, friendship, cooperation and development. Attention has also been paid to cooperation between the two countries’ ministries, sectors and localities through signed agreements and delegation exchanges.-VNA