The friendship and cooperative relations between Cambodia and Vietnam have been developing remarkably in the past time, Prime Minister Hun Sen said at a reception in Phnom Penh on September 21 for outgoing Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Thach Du.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen 

PM Hun Sen hoped that bilateral trade will increase to 5 billion USD in the near future from the current level of 3 billion USD, while the number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia will continue increasing.

The PM also hailed the effective cooperation between Cambodian and Vietnamese ministries and localities, especially those along the shared border, adding that people-to-people exchanges, including cooperative activities of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association and Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association, have significantly contributed to increasing mutual understanding.

He thanked Vietnam for annually providing scholarships for Cambodian students and described Vietnam as one of the important destinations which have helped Cambodia train high-qualification human resources.

The PM spoke highly of the ambassador’s contributions to reinforcing and developing the friendship and solidarity between Cambodia and Vietnam during his tenure of office.

He took this occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, Government, Army and people for helping the Cambodian people escape from the genocidal regime, noting that without the prompt and valuable assistance of Vietnam, the situation would have worsened and more millions of Cambodian people would be killed.

For his part, Du expressed his pleasure at the growing friendship and cooperative ties between Vietnam and Cambodia over the past few years, saying the exchange of delegations, especially visits by senior officials, have created a new momentum to drive the bilateral relations forward.

He thanked PM Hun Sen and leaders of Cambodian ministries and departments for creating favourable conditions for him to fulfil his missions, contributing to the reinforcement and development of the good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability.

Vietnam will continue giving priority to developing the friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia, he affirmed.

Earlier, the ambassador bid farewell to Acting Head of State of Cambodia and President of the Senate Say Chhum; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection, President of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association Men Saman; and Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn.

The ambassador is scheduled to bid farewell to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin in the coming days.

VNA