At the talks, both leaders affirmed that the Vietnam-Cambodia ties are close and inseparable brotherly relations.
PM Hun Sen once again thanked Vietnam for its valuable assistance to Cambodia in its struggle to overthrow the genocidal regime as well as its help in Cambodia’s reconstruction efforts even when Vietnam was suffering difficulties due to embargo.
The two PMs highly evaluated the signing of two legal documents recognising the completion of 84 percent of land demarcation and marker planting, describing this as a historical milestone in the settlement of border issues between the two countries as well as in building the shared border of peace, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development.
They also recognised positive development strides in the bilateral relations over the past time, especially growth in trade and tourism, and reached high consensus on measures to boost cooperation in the coming time.
The two leaders agreed to constantly strengthen bilateral relations under the motto of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability” in the spirit of trust, equality, mutual respect and cooperation for mutually-beneficial benefits.
They agreed to deepen the political ties by increasing the exchange of all-level delegations and promoting the efficiency of dialogue and bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
The two PMs vowed to increase the exchange of viewpoints on strategic security matters and strengthen coordination to firmly defend the peaceful environment, security and stability in each country while persistently pursuing the principle of not allowing any organisations and individuals to use one country’s territory to harm the other’s security.
They held that, as two neighbours, Vietnam and Cambodia hold huge potential and advantages to further step up cooperation in economy, trade and investment.
They agreed to promote connectivity between the two economies, especially connecting roads, waterway routes, electricity, tourism, finance and banking.
The two sides will coordinate to build favourable policy frameworks for businesses of both countries, particularly small-and medium-sized enterprises to expand investment.
The PMs agreed to instruct the two countries’ ministries and sectors to work out more measures to increase the bilateral trade in the coming years, which is likely to surpass 5 billion USD in 2019.
PM Hun Sen took this occasion to thank Vietnam for providing non-refundable aid for Cambodia to fund the construction of the National Assembly building, a drug rehabilitation centre in Preah Sihanouk province and a model border market, among others, as well as grant a lot of scholarships for Cambodian students and Government public servants.
The two PMs reached consensus on finding the most suitable measures to help Vietnamese-Cambodians have stable lives and legal status so that they can make contributions to the socio-economic development in the host nation.
Touching on regional and international issues, they emphasised the significance of maintaining peace, security and stability in the region, and affirmed close coordination to build and develop the ASEAN Community, uphold the ASEAN’s principles, while consolidating solidarity and resilience, and promoting the central role of the bloc.
Besides, the leaders consented to boost cooperation in the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle and Greater Mekong Sub-region to narrow the development gap, and better manage and effectively use Mekong River’s water resources towards realising the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The two nations will cooperate closely in 2020 when Vietnam takes over the role of ASEAN Chair and Cambodia hosts the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 13), they stressed.
After the talk, the two leaders witnessed the signing of seven cooperative documents, including an aid agreement on financing construction of the building of the Cambodian National Assembly’s Secretariat, an aid agreement on the building of a drug rehabilitation centre in Preah Sihanouk province, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on customs cooperation, an MoU on trade promotion cooperation, an MoU on border trade infrastructure development, an MoU on construction progress and handover of a model border market in Da commune, Cambodia’s Tbong Khmum province, and an MoU on electricity cooperation.
