Manet’s visit to Malaysia aims to boost cooperation

ASENIOR Cambodian government official has announced the “successful” conclusion of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to Malaysia. The visit aimed to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Jean Francois Tan, minister delegate attached to the prime minister for foreign affairs, held a press conference on the night of February 27, following the return of Manet and his delegation.

He said Malaysia was the third diplomatic mission to an ASEAN member country that Manet has made since assuming office. The premier visited Vietnam in December 2023, as well as Thailand, earlier this month.

It was his 11th trip abroad as prime minister.

“The short, focused visit was similar to his trip to Thailand earlier this month,” he added.

He explained that Manet and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim are well-acquainted, after their first meeting at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia in September last year, and again in Japan last December.

“The visit to Malaysia provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation. Its goal was to continue to obtain practical benefits to the peoples of the two nations. Cambodia and Malaysia have had diplomatic relations for 67 years, and are committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation in all sectors, especially the economic arena,” he said.

During their meeting, Manet and Anwar exchanged views and opinions on a broad range of affairs, including politics, defence, security, trade, investment, tourism, halal foods, telecoms and IT, digital and energy security.

“Their talks went smoothly and provided several practical benefits,” said Tain.

He noted that Manet extended an invitation for his Malaysian counterpart to visit Cambodia. Anwar said he would find an appropriate time to do so, but had yet to confirm a precise date.

Kin Phea, director of the Royal Academy of Cambodia’s International Relations Institute, believes the visit has yielded fruitful results for the Kingdom and its people. He suggested that the visit demonstrated the close bilateral relations and cooperation between Cambodia and Malaysia.

“Political, diplomatic and security relations between the two countries are deepening. The trip was also an opportunity to foster bilateral trade and investment, as well as people-to-people exchanges,” he said.

Phea hopes that following the visit, Cambodia-Malaysia trade volume will increase, along with direct investment from the predominantly Muslim nation to the Kingdom. He expects that cooperation in many other sectors will be strengthened and expanded.

During his visit, Manet was granted a royal audience with Sultan Ibrahim, the current King of Malaysia. They also paid a courtesy call on Malaysia’s Senate president Mutang Tagal and National Assembly president Johari Abdul.