Cambodian King Norodom Sihamori’s State visit to Vietnam, scheduled to begin on September 24, is hoped to elevate further the two countries’ neighbourliness, traditional friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation.

The visit, from September 24-26 at the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang, is the fourth made by King Norodom Sihamoni since he came to the throne in 2004.

The two countries are celebrating the Friendship Year 2012 and the 45 th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties on June 24, 1967, Vietnam and Cambodia have been constantly strengthening their political relations following the motto “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, all-round cooperation and long-term sustainability”.

Visits by high-ranking leaders were exchanged on a regular basis, with the recent one by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in December, 2011 and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in April, 2012 and that by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly Chairman Heng Somrin.

The two sides have organised various conferences, such as the 12 th session of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee in August 2011, the 7 th Conference on Cooperation and Development between border provinces of Vietnam and Cambodia in Ho Chi Minh City in March 2012, and the 3 rd Vietnam-Cambodia Investment Cooperation Conference in Kien Giang province in June this year to seek measures to further their ties.

Security and defence cooperation between the two countries has been strengthened, helping maintain stability and social order along the common border and promptly prevent trans-national crimes.

As bilateral economic linkage, trade and investment have been growing rapidly two-way trade exceeded 2.8 billion USD in 2011 and is expected to hit 3.4 billion USD in 2012.

Vietnam has poured over 2.4 billion USD into 112 projects in Cambodia , focusing on rubber planting, mining, oil and gas exploration, energy, telecommunications, finance and banking.

Vietnam has also continued lending a helping hand to Cambodia in training its human resources and providing medical check-ups and treatment for Cambodian people.

The two countries’ relevant agencies are deploying the demarcation and planting of markers along the common border. So far, 239 positions for the planting of 289 markers have been positioned and 700 km of the border line has been demarcated.

The two sides pledged to press ahead with cooperation to complete the work as soon as possible to ensure the borderline of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.-VNA