The 16th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, and Scientific-Technological Cooperation was held in Hanoi on May 17 under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn.

Overview of the meeting

Both Minh and Prak Sokhonn agreed that since the committee’s previous meeting in March last year, the Vietnam-Cambodia relationship has grown continuously with many achievements.

The two nations jointly held many activities to mark the Friendship Year 2017 and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, including the exchange of many high-level delegations.

Bilateral cooperation mechanisms as well as partnerships among ministries, sectors and localities of both countries have been strengthened, while the land border demarcation, border marker planting and border management have seen progresses. Currently, 84 percent of land border demarcation and marker planting work has been accomplished, they noted, adding that the two sides are determined to finish the work soon in an effort to build a shared border of peace, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development.

Senior leaders of Vietnam and Cambodia also pledged to continue creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Cambodian people to settle in each other’s territories in line with the law of each nation.

The two sides highlighted that bilateral economic ties have also seen positive signals with two-way trade reaching 3.8 billion USD in 2017, a rise of 25 percent over 2016. Vietnam has invested in 196 projects in Cambodia with total registered capital of 2.94 billion USD, mostly in agro-forestry sector, making Vietnam one of the five biggest foreign investors in Cambodia.

At the same time, Cambodian firms have invested in 18 projects in Vietnam with combined investment of 58.12 million USD.

Vietnamese investors in Cambodia have been highly valued by Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Cambodian leaders for significant contributions to the socio-economic development of Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the two sides have worked together to strengthen connectivity in economy and transport. In July last year, they concluded negotiations on a memorandum of understanding on the Vietnam-Cambodia transportation cooperation strategy in the 2018-2025 period with a vision to 2030.

The two countries inaugurated a bridge connecting Long Binh (An Giang) and Chrey Thom (Kandal) in April 2017, while opening to traffic the Le Thanh (Gia Lai) - Oyadav (Rattanakiri) border gate in July 2017.

Every year, Vietnam has granted hundreds of scholarships to Cambodian students, while Cambodia has also helped Vietnam in personnel training.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed major orientations and specific measures to further expand and deepen the bilateral partnership. They concurred to bolster cooperation in personnel training, while creating optimal conditions for economic, trade and investment relations

They will continue reinforce and boost coordination in security-defence, transport infrastructure development, industry-mining-energy, agro-forestry-fisheries, information and communications, health care, labour, social affairs, religion, culture, sports and tourism, and environment. Vietnam and Cambodia will continue enhancing ties among localities and within the framework of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam triangle development.

They pledged to continue to manage the shared border in line with already signed treaties and agreements, while working closely to fulfill the target of legalising the completed work in border demarcation in 2018, and continue seeking suitable solutions to finish the remaining work.

The Cambodian side agreed to continue applying measures to ensure the legitimate rights of overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia.

They two sides also agreed to implement the mid-term review mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of reached agreements.

After the meeting, the two ministers signed the minutes of the meeting. The 17th meeting of the committee will be held in Cambodia in 2019.-VNA