Friendship Association eyes stronger Vietnam-Cambodia ties

HCM City (VNA) – The third congress of the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association (VCFA)'s chapter in Ho Chi Minh City on April 19 agreed to further consolidate and foster friendship, solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the countries as well as between the southern economic hub and Cambodian localities.

For the 2022 – 2027 tenure, participants said the chapter's operation will be overhauled to deepen Vietnam – Cambodia and HCM City – Phnom Penh ties.

To this end, the organisation will boost communications to raise awareness of the public, especially young people, of the bilateral friendship, promote investment and trade between Vietnamese and Cambodian enterprises, and provide effective assistance for Cambodian students in HCM City.

The congress elected a new executive board for the 2022 – 2027 tenure, which consists of 51 members and is headed by Phung Cong Dung, Chairman of the municipal Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs.

In his congratulatory remarks, Sok Dareth, Cambodian Consul General to HCM City, said the VCFA and its municipal chapter have worked effectively to cultivate solidarity as well as counter accusations that defame and destroy the relationship between the two countries.

The diplomat affirmed that the Cambodian Consulate General is committed to coordinating with the local friendship organisation in promoting sound relations between Vietnamese and Cambodians for peace, independence and development in each nation and in the region.

During the 2016-2021 tenure, the chapter and its member units launched a series of charitable activities, including free medical check-ups and gifts worth hundreds of billions of dong for the poor in Vietnam and Cambodia. They also worked to support Cambodians, Vietnamese expatriates in Cambodia and Cambodian students in the city during COVID-19 outbreaks last year./.