The agreement was reached during talks in Hanoi on December 11 between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet who arrived in Hanoi for a two-day official visit to Vietnam.
The two PMs said that political trust between Vietnam and Cambodia has been reinforced through an increased exchange of delegation visits and contacts at all level over the years, helping to rev up bilateral cooperation in all areas, including defense-security, trade-investment, culture, education-training and people-to-people exchanges.
They especially took note of the growing trade ties between Vietnam and Cambodia that recorded an annual growth rate of more than 20% in 2015-2020 and surpassed the US$10 billion mark in 2022, hitting US$10.57 billion, up nearly 11% compared to the previous year.
To realise the US$20 billion trade target, the two sides agreed to bring into full play existing cooperation mechanisms, including the joint committee for economic, cultural and scientific and technological cooperation. They vowed to strengthen the connection between the two economies, in terms of infrastructure and institutions and policies, promote border trade exchanges, and facilitate their business communities’ cooperation opportunities.
The two sides considered defense-security cooperation a major pillar in bilateral relations, affirming that they would not allow any hostile forces to use one country’s territory to fight another. They consented to continue to effectively implement cooperation plans between the two countries’ Ministries of Defense and between their Ministries of Public Security/Interior.
They will closely coordinate in border management, prevent and fight against all types of cross-border crimes and deal with non-traditional security challenges. They welcomed the efforts of the Ministries of National Defense of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to host the first border defense friendship exchange in mid-December 2023.
The two sides also welcomed the progress made in land border demarcation and marker planting between the two countries and vowed to complete the remaining 16% workload to build a common border of friendship, peace, stability, cooperation and development.
The Cambodian side affirmed that it would continue to coordinate and support the search and repatriation of the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Cambodia during international missions in the past.
The two PMs agreed to increase Vietnam – Cambodia human resource cooperation; promote traffic connections, including highway connections and increasing the frequency of direct flights between their major cities; and coordinate with Laos to develop ‘One journey, three destinations’ tourism packages.
On this occasion, PM Pham Minh Chinh requested that the Cambodian Government continue to create favourable conditions for people of Vietnamese origin to legally live, do business and integrate well into the local community, while serving as a bridge of friendship between the two countries.
Exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, the two sides emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability in the region, as well as supporting ASEAN’s common stance and central role in the security and strategic issues of region, including the East Sea issue.
They affirmed to closely coordinate and support each other’s stances at regional and international forums; and work closely with other ASEAN member countries to build the ASEAN Community. They concurred to continue to strengthen cooperation between the three countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in effectively implementing agreements reached at the high-level meeting of the top leaders of their three ruling parties; and maintain and promote high-level meetings.
They voiced their strong support for Laos to fulfill its role as Chair of ASEAN 2024 and AIPA 2024. They also underscored the need to ramp up cooperation in the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area and the Greater Mekong Subregion to narrow the development gap, while cooperating in the management and sustainable use of Mekong River water resources.
After the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in the fields of science, technology and innovation, trade and diplomacy between the two countries’ ministries and agencies.
