An official welcome ceremony was held in Phnom Penh on June 15 for President Tran Dai Quang who is on a two-day State visit to Cambodia at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.

President Tran Dai Quang (L) and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni at the welcome ceremony.

The ceremony was followed by a meeting between the Vietnamese State leader and the King.

The same day, the President and his spouse laid wreaths at the Independence Monument, the statue of the late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk and the monument dedicated to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives in the country.

He is scheduled to meet with Senate President Samdech Say Chhum, President of the National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrim and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on the day.

President Tran Dai Quang’s State visit aims to affirm the importance Vietnam attaches to the friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia as well as the country’s wish to continue working together with the neighbour to consolidate and further develop the bilateral relationship in line with the motto of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation” for the sake of their people and for peace, stability, cooperation and development.

Vietnam has been Cambodia’s third largest trade partner with two-way trade reaching 3.37 billion USD in 2015 and 944.6 million USD in the first quarter of this year. The two countries are striving for 5 billion USD in bilateral trade in the coming time.

Cambodia is Vietnam’s 16th largest export market with steel, fertilizer, garments, equipment and machinery, plastics making up a major proportion.

Vietnamese investments have been present at 16 out of 25 Cambodian cities and provinces. By May 2016, Vietnam ranked fifth among 50 countries and territories investing in Cambodia with 172 projects, mostly in agro-forestry, energy, finance-banking-insurance, post and telecommunications, healthcare and construction, among others.

President’s visit marks new milestone in VN-Cambodia trade

A state visit to Cambodia on June 15-16 made by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang marks a milestone in the two countries’ two-way trade and investment, Khmer Times - one of the three English-language daily newspapers in Cambodia wrote on June 15.

President Tran Dai Quang’s visit will consolidate strong commitments and trust of Vietnamese investors in Cambodia, which helps increase investment flow to the country in the coming time, Khmer Times quoted Length Rithy, a representative from the Vietnamese Investment Association in Cambodia and President of the Vietnam Rubber Group in Cambodia.

Rithy said that Vietnam has poured billions of US dollars into Cambodia over the past two decades in the agro-industry sector, particularly rubber plantations.

According to statistics from the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia, Vietnamese investments in Cambodia will total 6 billion USD by 2020, making Vietnam one of the largest foreign investors there.

Currently, Vietnam ranks fifth in investments in Cambodia, following China, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the EU.

Rithy hoped that a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen would allow the two sides to address challenges facing Vietnamese businesses operating in Cambodia and discuss measures to support agricultural processing industry, especially natural rubber industry which is experiencing critical impacts of El Nino and the world’s rubber price decrease.

The newspaper also quoted David Van, managing director for Cambodia in Bower Group Asia, saying that the Cambodian Prime Minister needs to seek investment in spheres where the Vietnamese are familiar with, like agricultural business and the construction industry.

President Tran Dai Quang’s visit shows that Vietnam’s foreign policy prioritises relationship with neighbouring countries, Chheang Vannarith, Chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies (CISS) said, noting that bilateral relations in trade, defence, security and cultural cooperation will be top of the agenda for discussion.

“Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang's visit to the Kingdom augurs well for the bilateral relationship between the two neighbors,” he added.

VNA