Phnom Penh (VNA) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and visiting Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko pledged to continue bilateral and multilateral cooperation for regional peace and prosperity, during a meeting on July 6 on the occasion of Japanese FM's 2-day official visit to Cambodia.
Kamikawa stated that areas of collaboration for Japan and Cambodia are steadily expanding after many years of cooperation. She expressed her desire to collaborate in the strengthening of Cambodia’s sustainability and further co-creation of social value, focusing on human resource development and the use of Japanese technology.
For his part, Hun Manet appreciated the long-standing support from the Japanese government and people for Cambodia, stating that he would like to advance cooperation between the two countries under the framework of “comprehensive strategic partnership”.
The Japanese FM expressed her willingness to advance cooperation to develop Sihanoukville Port as a hub port and logistics base in the region. She said that Japan eyes to cooperate with Cambodia in attracting investment from Japanese companies. She announced that the Japanese government has decided to provide an ODA loan of 8 billion JPY (over 97.76 million USD) for the electricity transmission and distribution system expansion project in Phnom Penh to improve the investment environment.
Kamikawa said Japan would like to cooperate with Cambodia in security, including through port calls to Ream base by the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF). Meanwhile, Hun Manet welcomed the progress of security cooperation between Japan and Cambodia, and stated that Cambodia attaches importance to maritime cooperation./.
