PM to lead senior delegation on formal visit to Vietnam
PRIME Minister Hun Sen will lead a senior delegation on a state visit to Vietnam on Friday and Saturday at the invitation of Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. During the visit, the two prime ministers will discuss bilateral cooperation on a regional and international level. The meeting is to be followed by a ceremony in which two documents recognising the 84 per cent completion of boundary demarcation will be signed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said on Wednesday.
The ministry said that the Prime Minister will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn, Senior Minister for Border Affairs Var Kim Hong, Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon, senior figures of the government and business leaders of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce.
“The two prime ministers will deliver a joint statement at an opening conference on the promotion of Cambodian-Vietnamese investments on the afternoon of October 4.
“On the second day of the visit, the two prime ministers will chair the conference summing up the boundary work and the marking of border poles. It is expected to be finished with the signing of two documents in recognition of the demarcation work achieved,” said the ministry.
During his visit, Hun Sen will pay a separate courtesy call to the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and National Assembly of Vietnam Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the ministry.
“The Prime Minister will have bilateral discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. On the occasion, the two prime ministers will discuss issues involving bilateral cooperation on a regional and international level, which are of common interests and concerns.
“Following the meeting, the two prime ministers will witness a signing ceremony of some documents on the promotion of bilateral cooperation,” stated the ministry.
During his stay in Hanoi, Hun Sen will lay wreaths at the memorials of fallen heroes and combatants and the cemetery of Ho Chi Minh.
The director of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia Kin Phea said that Hun Sen’s formal visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam would help further strengthen relations and cooperation between the two countries.
“Normally, Vietnam and Cambodia have traditional relations resembling good brothers and neighbours. So the goal of the visit is to deepen and develop cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
He said if the two governments have an added agreement regarding the border to recognise its demarcation, then it would help solve their border issues. It would also help stop some politicians from trying to leverage on the issue for political gains.
“We don’t want the border issue to be a ‘disease’ for our nations,” he said.