Vietnamese PM arrives in Kingdom

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung lays a wreath at the base of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument.

via CAAI

Monday, 15 November 2010 20:33 Vong Sokheng

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday morning ahead of two days of regional summits.

Foreign ministers from Laos, Myanmar and Thailand will join Dung today for the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam and the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam summits aimed at increasing bilateral cooperation.

Dung met behind closed doors yesterday with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chea Chanto, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said at a press conference following the meeting that the two premiers discussed their desire to strengthen relations in a variety of sectors including oil and gas exploration.

“The most important thing at the moment is that we allowed Vietnamese companies to explore for oil and gas,” Khieu Kanharith said.

The information minister said Dung expressed his government’s support for Cambodian sovereignty and promised to speed up border demarcation and complete the process by 2012 as per a bilateral agreement.

Chea Chanto declined to comment yesterday and Trinh Ba Cam, spokesman at the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, could not be reached.

Dung also visited King Norodom Sihamoni and paid courtesy calls to Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin.

At today’s summits, Cambodia and Thailand are set to sign a bilateral agreement to loosen visa requirements, according to an agenda obtained by The Post. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are expected to sign a “Phnom Penh Declaration” to further development among the three countries.

Hun Sen is set to meet separately today prime ministers Thein Sein (Myanmar), Bouasone Bouphavanh (Lao PDR) and Abhisit Vejjajiva (Thailand).