Senate President Samdech Vibol Sena Pheakdei Say Chhum held talks in Hanoi, Vietnam on Oct. 24, with H.E. Vuong Dinh Hue, Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam, following the welcome ceremony the same day.
According to Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the Cambodian Senate President thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, army and people for providing tremendous support for the just and fair cause of the Cambodian people in all historical periods. He affirmed that Cambodia always maintains its consistent stance on cultivating solidarity and friendship between the two peoples in line with the motto of good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability.
He also thanked the Vietnamese NA for assisting the Cambodian Senate in equipment and personnel training.
As Cambodia will host the 43rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43), he wished to welcome H.E. Vuong Dinh Hue to the meeting this November.
The Vietnamese NA chairman, for his part, agreed with Samdech Say Chhum that despite global and regional uncertainties, long-standing friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia will be forever an invaluable asset that needs to be nurtured and passed on to later generations.
In eight months of this year, two-way trade hit US$7.7 billion, up 19 percent annually. Vietnam is the leading investor in ASEAN and among top investors in Cambodia. It is also the world’s largest source of tourist arrivals in Cambodia.
Vietnam is ready to cooperate extensively with Cambodia in workforce training and development, including tertiary and post-tertiary level, H.E. Vuong Dinh Hue said, suggesting improving the efficiency of bilateral education-training for students, including pushing forward the establishment of Faculty of Vietnamese Studies at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, thus enhancing the quality of Cambodian students who are to study in Vietnam.
Speaking highly of bilateral coordination at international, ASEAN, regional and sub-regional forums, H.E. Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed that Vietnam supports Cambodia in its capacity as Chair of ASEAN and AIPA 2022. He believed that the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and AIPA-43 slated for November in Phnom Penh would be a success, making important contributions to building ASEAN Community and improving Cambodia’s international reputation and position.
The meeting also touched on the promotion of cooperation in the fields of security, border trade, border demarcation and planting of border markers which have been 84 percent complete, search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts in Cambodia, and so on.
Both sides agreed that the Vietnamese NA will work closely with the Cambodian Senate and NA to improve the efficiency of cooperation between the two Governments and peoples while offering mutual support at regional and global inter-parliamentary forums.
They promised to maintain all-level meetings to share professional experience in law-making, supervision and deciding on the country’s important issues.
The exchange of delegations via Party, State, NA, Government and people-to-people diplomacy channels will be maintained in order to consolidate political trust between the two Parties and nations. High-level agreements by leaders of the two Parties and countries will be effectively implemented so as to deepen bilateral political ties.
In the evening the same day, Samdech Say Chhum and the high-ranking Cambodian delegation attended a banquet hosted by H.E. Vuong Dinh Hue.
Samdech Say Chhum is on an official visit in Vietnam from Oct. 24-26, at the invitation of the Vietnamese NA Chairman.
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press