Vietnam, Cambodia trade to reach US$1 billion

The meeting saw the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Chairman of the Vietnamese sub-committee, and his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong.

Both sides decided to focus their efforts on education and training, infrastructure construction, trade, investment, energy, transport, health care, mining, oil and gas, agriculture and seafood processing.

The speeding up of border marker work for completion by the self imposed 2008 deadline was also a prominent point of discussion at the meeting, along with trans-national crime, the conducting of joint naval patrols and preliminary negotiations on an extradition treaty.

The officials urged localities, especially provinces on both sides of the borderline, to increase cooperation and businesses to build more power plants along the Se San river.

At the meeting, the officials also reviewed the implementation of the agreements signed in Vietnam’s central Thua Thien-Hue province in October 2006.

The 10th meeting of the joint committee has been tentatively proposed to be held in Vietnam next year.

Deputy PM pays courtesy visits to Cambodian leaders

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem on August 21 paid courtesy visits to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Senate President Samdech Chea Sim and Acting Chairman of the National Assembly Nguon Nhel.

Deputy PM Khiem is leading a Governmental delegation on an official visit to Cambodia to attend the ninth session of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

During his meeting, King Sihamoni hailed the outcome of Mr Khiem’s first ever visit to Cambodia as a Deputy PM and Foreign Minister. He said the joint committee’s session demonstrated major contributions to consolidating and deepening traditional relations and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

King Sihamoni described charitable medical check-ups and treatment provided by Vietnamese doctors for the poor in Cambodia as strong evidence of the growing friendship and mutual assistance between the two countries.

Both Senate President Chea Sim and NA Acting Chairman Nguon Nhel expressed their delights at recent positive developments in the bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of economy, education and training, health care, security, national defence and transport.

The Cambodian leaders welcomed the two countries’ accelerated planting of land markers with a view to building their common border into a border of peace, friendship and cooperation.

They also emphasised the importance of bilateral cooperation mechanisms as well as cooperation between ministries, sectors and localities of Cambodia and Vietnam, saying that these have greatly contributed to deepening cooperative ties between the two neighbouring countries.

Source: VOV