Phnom Penh (VNA) – The 15th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committeeon Economic, Cultural and Scientific-Technological Cooperation took place in Phnom Penh on March15.  

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterPham Binh Minh and Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and InternationalCooperation Prak Sokhon co-chaired the event.

Thetwo sides reviewed the implementation of cooperation agreements signed at thejoint committee’s 14th session and expressed their satisfaction atthe growing bilateral friendship and cooperation, which have brought practicalbenefits to the two countries’ people.

Theyhighlighted regular high-level delegation exchanges in 2016, including thevisits by President Tran Dai Quang in June and National Assembly ChairwomanNguyen Thi Kim Ngan in September to Cambodia, and the official visit to Vietnamby Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen in December.

Bilateralcollaboration in education-training, telecommunication,agro-forestry-fisheries, tourism, finance, banking, healthcare, aviation,energy and oil and gas have been enhanced.

Asof the beginning of 2017, nearly 4,000 Cambodian students were pursuingeducation and research in Vietnam. Vietnam has topped the list of touristnumbers to Cambodia over the past eight years. Two-way trade hit 3 billion USDin 2016.

Thetwo nations have also strengthened defence partnership and pushed forward landborder demarcation and marker planting, while promoting exchanges betweenborder localities.

Duringthe meeting, Vietnamese and Cambodian officials discussed orientations andmeasures to increase comprehensive cooperation in the coming time.

Theyagreed to boost affiliation in education-training, economics, trade andinvestment as well as remove difficulties for the effective implementationlicensed projects, while seeking tosign new cooperation agreements to raisetwo-way trade to 5 billion USD in the time ahead.

Bothsides also agreed to bolster coordination in natural resources and environment,agro-forestry-fisheries, energy, oil and gas, labour, and healthcare inaddition to forging connectivity between the two economies, especially in thefields of transport, telecommunication, finance, banking, and tourism.

Theyconsented to carry out an agreement on investment protection and encouragementand work for the early signing of agreements on avoidance of double taxation,border trade, and labour cooperation, along with a Memorandum of Understandingon transport cooperation strategy in 2017-2025, with a vision to 2030.

Thetwo countries confirmed their determination to complete the land borderdemarcation and marker planting as soon as possible, and tighten coordinationin searching for and repatriating the remains of Vietnamese soldiers killedduring wartime in Cambodia.

Vietnamand Cambodia reiterated the principle of not allowing any hostileforces to use one country’s territory to conduct activities undermining securityof the other country.

They agreed to ensure the legitimate rights of each other’s citizensin the respective countries.

Both nations emphasized the importance of sustainable useand protection of water resources in the Mekong River, whilst enhancingcooperation with other countries within the framework of the Greater Mekong Sub-region(GMS), Mekong River Commission (MRC), Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam DevelopmentTriangle, Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV), Ayeyawady-ChaoPhraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and other internationalforums.

Theyexpressed their belief that the outcomes of the meeting will lay an importantfoundation for the two sides’ ministries and localities to push ahead withcooperation in the coming time, which will help propel the bilateral soundneighbourliness, traditional amity, and comprehensive, sustainable andlong-term cooperation forward.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterPham Binh Minh and Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and InternationalCooperation Prak Sokhon signed the minutes of the meeting.

The16th session of the joint committee will be held in Vietnam in2018.-VNA