President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin (Photo: VNA)After Vietnam and Cambodia set up diplomatic ties on June 24,1967, their peoples stood side by side in the struggles for national liberationto secure historic victories in the spring of 1975. Vietnam later assistedthe patriotic forces and people of Cambodia to topple the Pol Pot genocidalregime, with the triumph on January 7, 1979.
Building on cooperation achievements in history, underthe motto of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive,sustainable and long-term cooperation”, bilateral relations have been unceasinglyconsolidated and developing in all fields over the past years, thereby generatingpractical benefits for the two peoples and actively contributing to peace,stability, and cooperation in the region and the world.
Political ties have been growing as seen in mutual visits,meetings, and discussions in various forms between the countries’ seniorleaders, along with increasingly effective collaboration between their ministries,sectors, and localities.
A number of people-to-people diplomatic activities,especially in border provinces, have taken place, helping improve people’sunderstanding of the traditional solidarity, friendship, cooperation, andmutual assistance.
The two sides have also jointly organised many meaningfulcelebrations of the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Year 2022 and the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship.
In2021, bilateral trade rose 79.1% year on year to 9.54 billion USD. It stood at7.08 billion USD in the first seven months of 2022, up 17.8% from a yearearlier. Vietnam has 188 valid investment projects worth 2.8 billion USD inCambodia at present, ranking first among investors from the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and fifth among all foreign investors in thiscountry.
Meanwhile,partnerships in defence, security, border safeguarding, education - training,science - technology, tourism, and people-to-people exchange have been furtherboosted. The number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia surpassed 46,300 in thefirst three months of this year, making Vietnam the biggest source of foreign visitorsthere.
Relationsbetween the countries’ legislative bodies have also been growing in bothbilateral and multilateral aspects. Under the cooperation agreementsigned by the two parliaments in May 2019, the two sides have maintained high-level mutual visits; sharedexperience; and organised exchanges between the parliaments’ committees and theparliamentary friendship groups. They also agreed to enhance coordination to examine,promote, and supervise ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses’ implementationof signed agreements, thereby helping intensify the Vietnam - Cambodia comprehensivecooperation.
At many inter-parliamentary forums of the regionand the world, NA delegations of the two countries have also increaseddiscussing, consulting with each other, and coordinating their stances on manyregional and international issues of common concern.
The coming visit by NA President Samdech Heng Samrin is an occasion for both sides to work outorientations and measures for bolstering parliamentary ties within bilateraland multilateral frameworks, exchange views on regional and international issuesof common concern, and especially contribute to the success of the Vietnam -Cambodia Friendship Year amid the 55th anniversary of the diplomaticrelationship./.
VNA
