Phnom Penh (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Minh Vu conducted a field trip to the northwest of the host country from March 23 to 26, aiming to provide support for the Vietnamese-origin community there and promote cooperation with local authorities in various fields.
Vu visited Vietnamese-origin people living in Preah Vihear and Siem Reap provinces. He also met with Preah Vihear Deputy Governor Min Sitha and Siem Reap Deputy Governor Ngov Sengkak.
At the meetings, the diplomat praised the economic cooperation potential between Vietnam and Cambodia in areas such as investment, trade, and tourism, emphasising that their economies complement each other.
Therefore, he expressed his hope for stronger cooperation across various aspects, especially between the Vietnamese provinces twinned with Preah Vihear and Siem Reap.
Vu also thanked and called on local authorities to continue providing support and creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese-origin people regarding legal issues, education, and livelihoods, thus helping them stabilise their lives, gradually integrate into the local society, and contribute to the development of both provinces and Cambodia as a whole.
In addition, he emphasised the importance of strengthening education and communications to raise younger generations' awareness about the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia to ensure that they always remember and join hands to reinforce the lasting friendship between the two countries.
Agreeing with Vu's proposal to strengthen locality-to-locality collaboration, particularly the initiatives related to tourism and trade connectivity, leaders of the two Cambodian provinces said that their relevant agencies are always making efforts to assist the Vietnamese-origin community in obtaining legal documents, helping them have better conditions for studying, living, and developing livelihoods more stably.
On this occasion, the ambassador listened to and shared with difficulties facing Vietnamese-oigin people, affirming that the embassy will continue to closely coordinate with Cambodian authorities to help them complete legal procedures so as to settle down and contribute to local socio-economic development.
On the threshold of Chol Chnam Thmey – the Khmer traditional new year festival, which will take place in mid-April, Vu presented gifts to Vietnamese-origin families who are living in difficult circumstances. He also visited a primary school for disadvantaged Vietnamese-origin children in Siem Reap.
Siem Reap is home to the second largest Vietnamese-origin community among the seven northwestern provinces of Cambodia while Preah Vihear has the smallest number of those people, according to the Khmer - Vietnamese Association's chapters in the two provinces./.
