During his stay in Vietnam, he paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, and laid a wreath at the monument to war heroes and martyrs on Bac Son street in Hanoi.

Hun Manet paid courtesy visits to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Vo Van Thuong, attended an official welcome ceremony and held talks with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and met with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

Vietnamese leaders hailed the visit by Hun Manet, saying it would make contributions to consolidating and creating a new milestone in the Vietnam – Cambodia relations. They also congratulated the guest for his election as the Cambodian Prime Minister and Vice Chairman of the Cambodian People’s Party, as well as the great achievements that Cambodia has carved out over the past time.

They laid stress on Vietnam’s consistent policy of respecting and giving top priority to the “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability” with Cambodia, while treasuring the tradition of solidarity and mutual support in the struggles for national independence in the past, as well as in the current national construction and development.

Hun Manet affirmed that Cambodia will stand shoulder to shoulder with Vietnam to protect, preserve, nurture and develop the bilateral ties to a new height, and pass them on to the younger generations.

Leaders from both countries reached consensus on striving to boost two-way trade to 20 billion USD in the time to come, and encouraging and facilitating investment and business cooperation activities of enterprises from both sides. They applauded close coordination by the two countries' competent agencies to maintain and consolidate the border line of peace, stability and development, while concurring to continue collaboration to accelerate the completion of the remaining 16% of land border demarcation and marker planting work.

On the occasion, PM Chinh and PM Hun Manet witnessed the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation; the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce; and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and Cambodia’s National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations.

They also attended the Vietnam – Cambodia trade and investment promotion forum, and met with students from the Foreign Trade University.

Prime Minister presents books of Party leader to Cambodian counterpart

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presented his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet a number of books by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on December 12.

He stressed that the books have valuable practical and theoretical meanings for the revolution cause of Vietnam, which he thinks Cambodia can refer to during its national construction and defence.  

PM Hun Manet appreciated the gift from PM Chinh, and affirmed that his visit to Vietnam aims to uphold the fine tradition and further promote the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries to a new height.  

The same day, First Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) Central Committee Bui Quang Huy paid a courtesy call to PM Hun Manet in Hanoi on December 12 on the occasion of the Cambodian Government leader's official visit to Vietnam.

Huy expressed his belief that with the close attention and guidance of PM Hun Manet, young generations of both Vietnam and Cambodia will continue to expand cooperation and exchange, contributing to fostering the solidarity and friendship between the two peoples. 

He wished that PM Hun Manet, along with high-ranking Vietnamese and Cambodian leaders, will continue giving directions for the youth organisations of the two countries in education work to raise young people's awareness of the bilateral traditional friendship, and facilitate multilateral youth cooperation activities. 

Hun Manet, for his part, stressed that young people are the pillar and an important factor in the traditional friendship between the two countries. He said the connectivity between the HCYU Central Committee and the CPP’s Youth Wing plays a crucial role in strengthening and promoting relations between the two countries.

The PM committed his attention to the young generation and support for youth exchange activities between Vietnam and Cambodia. He also proposed that the two youth organisations hold more exchange activities across various fields.

The Cambodian PM left Hanoi later on the day, concluding his official visit to Vietnam.

Vietnamese, Cambodian PMs talk to FTU students

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet on December 12 had a conversation with lecturers and students of the Foreign Trade University (FTU), one of the high-quality human resources training centre of Vietnam which has trained many Cambodian students.

Chinh highlighted the close attachment, solidarity and cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples, and expressed his hope that the youth of Vietnam and Cambodia will always remember the sacrifice by generations of Vietnamese and Cambodians for independence and freedom of each country as well as the friendship and solidarity between the two nations.

He underlined that ties between Vietnam and Cambodia are growing strongly, with two-way trade reaching 10.57 billion USD in 2022, making Vietnam the third largest trade partner of Cambodia.

Defence-security has been one of the key pillar in the bilateral relations, while culture, sports, tourism, health care, people-to-people and locality-to-locality cooperation have been expanded, he noted.

Particularly, bilateral partnership in education-training has been promoted, with 3,000 Cambodian students studying in Vietnam, acting as an important bridge for the Vietnam-Cambodia friendship, said the PM, hailing the education sectors of the two countries and the FTU in particular for showing strong performance in the field.

PM Chinh said that human resources are one of the key factors for the reinforcement of the good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia.

He said he hopes the FTU will continue to provide human resources to State agencies and businesses serving foreign economic activities, including economic, trade and investment collaboration with Cambodia, while creating optimal conditions for students from Cambodia.

The Government will provide best conditions for universities to promote their role in innovation and supplying high quality human resources for international cooperation, including collaboration with Cambodia, stated the PM. He said he hopes Vietnamese and Cambodian students will support each other in life and study, contributing to promoting the friendship between the two nations.

For his part, PM Hun Manet emphsised the close ties among Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, including education and training partnership.

He said that Cambodia switched to the market economy in 1993 and is focusing on comprehensively reforming its socio-economy towards the goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country in 2030 and a high-income one in 2050.

The Cambodian Government is concentrating on five priorities, including human resources training, he said.

Noting that trade and investment between the two countries have been expanded, especially after the two sides improve infrastructure connections, he underlined the need to further foster the connectivity between the two economies. The two sides should promote border trade and collaborate with each other to boost border economy, while encouraging and creating favourable conditions for the two business communities to seek partnership, he added.

PM Hun Manet reminded Cambodian and Vietnamese students to be deeply aware of the special significance of maintaining and promoting the friendship and long-standing friendship and solidarity between Cambodia and Vietnam./.VNA