Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia on June 17 presented the Friendship Order, one of the Vietnamese State’s highest honours, to Chea Kimtha, former Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam, in recognition of her significant contributions to strengthening the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu highlighted the long-standing friendship and all-round collaboration between Vietnam and Cambodia, which has been tested and strengthened through history and continues to deepen across all fields.
During her tenure as Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam from 2023 to 2026, Chea Kimtha made significant contributions to promoting the bilateral relations, advancing Party, State and people-to-people diplomacy, and strengthening connections among ministries, sectors and localities of both countries to effectively implement bilateral agreements.
Under her tenure, Vietnam–Cambodia relations witnessed notable progress, particularly in economic cooperation. Bilateral trade continued to grow strongly, reaching a record 11.33 billion USD in 2025. She also made contributions to maintaining close collaboration in defence, security and foreign affairs, helping build a solid foundation of mutual trust for the shared development of the two countries.
Receiving the award, Chea Kimtha, currently an adviser to Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, expressed her honour at being presented with the Friendship Order by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam.
She stressed that the Friendship Order is a symbol of the enduring friendship between the two countries and a reminder of their shared responsibility to preserve and promote these achievements for future generations.
The Friendship Order is a prestigious Vietnamese State decoration awarded to foreign individuals and organisations that have made outstanding contributions to fostering friendship, solidarity and cooperation between Vietnam and countries around the world./.
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The honour was presented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, on behalf of State President Luong Cuong, at a ceremony in Hanoi. The Order is a prestigious award of the Vietnamese State bestowed upon foreign individuals and collectives for their significant contributions to fostering friendship, solidarity and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries.
