At the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is paying a state visit to Cambodia to strengthen bilateral relations. The visit begins on October 19 and will wrap up on October 21.

In an October 18 press release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said Ramos-Horta will be granted a royal audience with the King at the Royal Palace.

Ramos-Horta will also hold separate meetings with Prime Minister Hun Sen, National Assembly president Heng Samrin and Senate president Say Chhum.

“The prime minister and [Ramos-Horta] will preside over the signing ceremony of two bilateral documents, namely an air services agreement and a memorandum of understanding on the rice trade between the two countries,” it read.

Ramos-Horta will also lay a wreath at Independence Monument and the memorial statue of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk.

While in Phnom Penh, Ramos-Horta will also meet Lieutenant General Hun Manet, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army.

Ramos-Horta is also scheduled to give public lectures at some universities in Phnom Penh, grant interviews with local media outlets and deliver his opening remarks at the first Cambodia-East Timor forum on tourism and trade for sustainable peace and development.

“The state visit of Ramos-Horta to Cambodia will further strengthen and deepen the relations and cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks for the mutual benefit of both countries,” said the press release.

Thong Mengdavid, a research fellow at the Asian Vision Institute’s Mekong Centre for Strategic Studies, said that because Cambodia is a “small country with a big heart”, it has become a supporter of East Timor joining ASEAN.

“East Timor will benefit greatly from its ASEAN membership through the opening up of a market with nearly 700 million people to engage in trade and investment exchanges with. Cambodia will play an important role as chair of the ASEAN Summit in November in helping East Timor become a member of the ASEAN family soon,” he said.