Vietnam, Cambodia foster comprehensive cooperation ties

The 14th plenary meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Co-operation in Economics, Culture and Science-Technology took place on October 19 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The event was co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who is also President of the Vietnam – Cambodia Cooperation Sub-Committee, and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of agreements reached in the 13th plenary meeting of the committee, saying that constant high-level delegation exchanges have contributed to consolidating the solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations.

The two countries have also seen strong growth in cooperation in economics, trade and investment. By the end of 2014, Vietnam had 167 investment projects in Cambodia with total capital of 3.46 billion USD.

Trade between Vietnam and Cambodia in 2014 reached 3.3 billion USD and the figure of the first eight months of this year hit nearly 2.5 billion USD.

The same progressive cooperation trend has been seen in other fields, including education-training, telecommunications, agro-forest-fishery, tourism, finance and banking, healthcare, aviation, energy and oil and gas.

The two sides agreed to accelerate border demarcation and border marker planting in order to ensure peace, security and bilateral cooperation in border areas.

They also agreed to continue working closely on searching for and collecting the remains of Vietnamese martyrs who lost their lives during the war in Cambodia.

The Vietnamese delegation highly valued Cambodia’s cooperation in ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Vietnamese in the host country in accordance with host regulations, and the neighbourly friendship between the two nations.

The two sides emphasised protection and sustainable use of water resource from the Mekong River while fostering cooperative ties with Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) nations; the Mekong River Commission (MRC); and Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (CLV), among others.

They also agreed to continue strengthening cooperation in the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and other international forums.

The two Deputy PMs signed the agreement from the 14 th meeting, laying a foundation for ministries, sectors and localities to continue implementing future cooperation between the two nations.

The committee’s 15th meeting is scheduled to take place in 2016 in Cambodia.-VNA