Strengthening Vietnam-Cambodia relations

12/15/2009

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh will pay an official visit to Cambodia on December 17-19 at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni. This is Mr Manh’s second visit to Cambodia after his first in March 2005.

The visit aims to strengthen the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and to elevate Vietnam’s position in the region, especially as the country will assume the chair of ASEAN in 2010.

Vietnam and Cambodia share a 1,000km long border and both use the Mekong River. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the fight against colonialism and the Pol Pot genocidal regime and have continued with mutual support and assistance during the current process of national construction and defence. Both countries have an open foreign policy of diversifying and multilateralising their international relations.

Over the past years, bilateral relations have developed well with an emphasis on ‘good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term stability. A regular exchange of high-level visits has been maintained to promote mutual trust and understanding. Relations between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the two Cambodian parties in the ruling coalition have also fared well.

Economic, trade and investment ties between Vietnam and Cambodia have grown and flourished constantly on a par with their political ties. Two-way trade has increased by 40 percent annually, reaching US$1.7 billion in 2008 and US$945 million in the past three quarters of this year.

Both countries have worked out measures to expand economic and trade cooperation, to raise bilateral trade to US$2 billion in 2010. They have also opened and upgraded a number of economic zones and markets along the border.

Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia has increased considerably, with 50 projects licensed and valued at US$640 million. These projects mainly focus on the exploration and exploitation of minerals, oil & gas, the construction of hydro-power electric plants and power transmission lines, rubber plantations and developing transport infrastructure.

Progress has been made in several joint projects such as health care, education-training and science-technology. Since 1995, Vietnam has trained thousands of Cambodian officials, university graduates and post-graduates in economics, culture and science-technology. In 2010 Vietnam is expected to grant 550 scholarships to Cambodian students. In turn, Cambodia will also grant scholarships to Vietnamese officials studying the Khmer language.

Cambodia has appreciated Vietnam’s humanitarian programmes to provide medical check-ups and restore the eyesight of visually-impaired people in border provinces.

The two countries have also worked closely in regional and international forums, thereby elevating their status globally.