By Dmitry Tsvetkov, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Today, June 12, my country celebrates one of the most important national festivities – Russia Day. That date symbolises the beginning of comprehensive social, economic and political reforms, which became firmly entrenched in lives of all Russians.

It is a reflection of the entire historical path of the Russian state built by its people through unwearying efforts, strain and sacrifice, who by their moral fortitude, stamina and determination created conditions for the modern stage of national development. Many generations of my compatriots have made a tremendous contribution to the progress of the modern civilisation, which cannot be underestimated, from cultural masterpieces to great achievements in science and technology.

Present-day Russia is looking to the future with confidence, meeting the challenges of state development, strengthening its political and economic institutions, implementing mega-projects in various fields of national economy, building space centres, modernising its longest Eurasian railway lines, creating machines, planes with the most advanced technological solutions, constructing super plants and bridges. It hosts major international events in the sphere of culture, youth policy and sports, gearing up for the FIFA Confederations Cup and World Cup.

The country pursues a foreign policy aimed at forming a stable system of international relations on the basis of universally recognised principles of mutual respect, noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries in order to ensure reliable and equal security of every member of the world community.

For many years Russia has been in the vanguard in addressing the global terrorist threat, and today it continues to make unprecedented efforts to counter this evil. Pursuant to the resolutions of the UN Security Council and rules of international law, Russia responded to the request from the duly elected Syrian government for assistance in fighting Islamic State in order to stabilise this country’s legitimate authority and to deliver a decisive blow to international terrorism. However, this goal can only be achieved with creation of the international coalition, involving countries from various regions of the world, progressively developing interaction with them.

Russia is also increasing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, seeing a vast potential in cooperation with its countries, consistently developing its relations with the region’s states, including Cambodia.

The Russian-Cambodian relations, the 60th anniversary of which was widely celebrated last year, have passed the test of time. They are based on strong traditions and invaluable experience of several generations who have been building the foundation of cooperation between our countries on the basis of mutual respect and trust. In this connection we especially appreciate the significant role of the King Norodom Sihanouk in strengthening our relations.

Active steps are being taken over the last few years to expand bilateral interaction. The intensively developing political dialogue is focused on the implementation of the agreements, reached during the visits of Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister of the Russian Federation and Hun Sen, prime minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.The legal basis of our cooperation is being consolidated with 34 joint documents signed during the past two years in comparison to 17 during previous 10 years. There is a tendency of gradual increase in the bilateral trade – by 30 percent in 2016 and still on the rise.

The active work is underway at the interministerial level and in the framework of the Intergovernmental Russian-Cambodian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which is a key mechanism of maintaining close contacts at different levels playing the coordinating role in the process of intensification of trade, economic and investment ties, which have been growing stronger for the last several years.

The collaboration between the business communities and administrative units of our countries is expanding; various companies in the Russian regions are beginning to consider Cambodia as a potential partner in investment projects.

High momentum is maintained in cooperation in the humanitarian field and between youth organisations. In particular, for the first time the Days of Russian Culture were organised here in October 2016, and December witnessed the Days of Russian Cinema. Last Autumn, Cambodia hosted the fourth Asean–Russia Youth Summit, and the delegation of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia took part in the first International Educational Youth Forum “Eurasia” in Orenburg region.

Undoubtedly, it is worth mentioning that cooperation between our countries is developing not only in bilateral, but also in multilateral formats. In this context the active assistance of Russia in diversification of the external economic ties of Cambodia should be noted, inter alia, by establishing effective contacts with Eurasian Economic Union.

I am confident that both countries will continue to follow the path of further strengthening and developing their multifaceted interaction, based on the long-standing ties of friendship, solidarity and mutual understanding between peoples of Russia and Cambodia. We are looking forward to joint implementation of the perspective projects and will do our best to bring to life the broad vistas of cooperation between our states.