Vietnam, Cambodia look to promote traditional friendship, all-round cooperation

Cambodian King Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneat Norodom Sihamoni (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam and Cambodia officially established diplomatic relations on June 24, 1967, and their friendship has ever since been continuously nurtured and developed. In 2005, leaders of the two countries agreed on a new approach to their relations following the motto of "good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability". Guided by this principle, their relationship has been further strengthened across all fields.

High-level exchanges between the two countries have remained frequent in various forms, playing a vital role in guiding the relationship between the two countries.

Notably, during the state visit by then State President To Lam (who is now General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam) to Cambodia from July 12-13, 2024, the two sides agreed to strengthen their solidarity, trust, and mutual understanding, ensuring that their cooperation continues to deepen, remain substantial, and become more effective. They underscored the importance of fostering a spirit of solidarity and friendship and emphasised the need to educate the younger generations on the historical and enduring ties between the two nations. The Cambodian side highlighted the enduring gratitude of the Cambodian people to Vietnam for its support in savaging them from the Pol Pot genocide and reviving their nation.

The sides agreed to intensify cooperation in such areas as trade, investment, national security, border management, labour exchanges, and people-to-people exchanges. They also agreed to work together to build independent and self-reliant economies while also ensuring deep international integration and effectiveness.

Meanwhile, in his official visit to Cambodia from November 21-24, 2024, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his Cambodian counterpart Khuon Sudary jointly inaugurated the new Cambodian National Assembly building, a symbol of the traditional solidarity and friendship between the two nations. This building is a gift from the Vietnamese Party, State, and people to Cambodia, providing better conditions for Cambodian lawmakers to fulfil their duties. Khuon Sudary awarded the Royal Order of Sahametrei (The Grand Cross), the highest honour that Cambodia bestows upon foreigners, to Chairman Man in recognition of his contributions.

At the same time, security and defence cooperation between the two countries has grown stronger, becoming a cornerstone of their partnership and playing a vital role in maintaining stability, security, and political and social order in both countries.

Additionally, important bilateral mechanisms such as the Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation and the Cooperation and Development Conference among border provinces have been maintained with effective results. Both countries have coordinated closely at international, regional, and sub-regional forums, such as the United Nations and ASEAN, contributing to enhancing their regional and global standing.

Expanding economic, trade, investment collaboration

Building on their solid political foundation, the two countries have proactively strengthened bilateral cooperation in a practical and effective manner. Since the signing of the Vietnam-Cambodia Trade Agreement in 1998, trade and investment relations between the two countries have expanded significantly, playing a crucial role in boosting the economic and social development of both nations.

Vietnam-Cambodia bilateral trade has grown substantially, with an average annual increase of over 20% from 2015 to 2022, surpassing 10 billion USD in 2022. Despite the challenges posed by the global economic downturn in 2023, two-way trade still reached 8.57 billion USD. By October this year, the figure had reached 8.35 billion USD, with both countries aiming to achieve 20 billion USD in trade in the near future.

Vietnam remains the largest investor from ASEAN and one of the top five investors globally in Cambodia, with 205 active projects worth a total registered capital of 2.94 billion USD as of July 2024. Meanwhile, Cambodia had run 38 investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 76.8 million USD as of October.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang, in addition to the traditional areas of cooperation, many new opportunities for collaboration are emerging, such as in high technology, digital technology, clean and green technologies, digital transformation, industrial processing, information technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). These areas are expected to attract further investment from both countries and foreign enterprises.

Cooperation in education, transport, culture, social affairs, tourism, and science and technology is also growing, with legal documentation processing for the Vietnamese community in Cambodia progressing, laying a foundation for better support for the Vietnamese community in Cambodia.

Furthermore, cooperation the two legislatures as well as among ministries and people’s organisations has also continued to deepen. Localities along the shared border are also closely collaborating, particularly in areas such as infrastructure development, healthcare services for border populations, and efforts to combat cross-border crime to ensure safety and security along the border areas.

Against the backdrop of positive relations, the state visit to Vietnam by King Norodom Sihamoni from November 28 and 29, 2024, holds great significance. It is expected to further enhance political trust between the two sides, promote economic, trade, and investment relations, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges, while bolstering cooperation on international and regional issues of mutual concern./.