Phnom Penh (VNA) - Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Minh Vu has had several meetings with senior Cambodian leaders, during which the two sides reaffirmed the good traditional friendship and agreed to further promote the friendship and cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.

In a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet on February 19 afternoon, the newly-appointed Vietnamese ambassador suggested directions to further strengthen the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries; enhance political trust; expand investment, trade, and tourism activities; and strengthen economic connectivity towards raising bilateral trade turnover to 20 billion USD.

Vu expressed his gratitude to the Cambodian government and the PM in particular for consistently supporting the community of people of Vietnamese origin in Cambodia to live and work stably in the country. He hoped the Cambodian government will continue to facilitate their integration into the host society, thus making practical contributions to Cambodia’s development as well as the bilateral relations. He pledged to promote Vietnamese companies to invest and do business in Cambodia.

For his part, Hun Manet showed his belief that the Vietnamese diplomat will contribute to further strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

He welcomed and agreed with Vu’s proposals and orientations, affirming that the Cambodian government always encourages and creates favourable conditions for businesses, including Vietnamese enterprises, to expand investment cooperation in Cambodia.

The PM urged both sides to facilitate goods flows, particularly in agricultural products, to soon achieve the target of 20 billion in bilateral trade. He also called for accelerating connectivity in road, air, and waterway transport between the two countries to boost trade and tourism exchanges.

He suggested considering the possibility to open a direct air route connecting Ha Long city of Vietnam and Siem Reap; promoting tourism linkages between the two nations, among Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as among coastal localities of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand; and open more border gates, including maritime border crossings.

🅘 A day earlier, Vu paid a courtesy call on Cambodian Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn, during which the diplomat also proposed solutions to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in politics, defence - security, economy, trade, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, as well as coordination between the two ministries of foreign affairs.

Prak Sokhonn spoke highly of Vietnam's bamboo diplomacy policy, saying that this has contributed to increasing the country's position on the international arena.

He concurred on enhancing cooperation between the two ministries of foreign affairs, including consultations between their relevant specialised units; and bolstering collaboration within international frameworks, particularly the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS), and other Mekong subregional cooperation mechanisms.

ಌ Previously, on February 13, the Vietnamese diplomat also had a meeting with Men Sam An, Vice President of the Central Committee of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), and President of the National Council of the Solidarity Front for Development of Cambodian Motherland (SFDCM), and Chairwoman of the Cambodia - Vietnam Friendship Association./