Cambodia welcomed US President Bill Clinton's lifting of the economic embargo on

Vietnam, minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Norodom Sirivuth was quoted by AFP

as saying Feb 4.

"Cambodia welcomes the good news to lift the embargo. We

think it is a good thing to achieve economic development and stability in the

region," the prince said on his return from an official visit to

Laos.

Prince Sirivuth said he met Vietnamese officials during a stop-over

in Ho Chi Minh on his way back from Vientiane and invited his Vietnamese

counterpart to visit Cambodia Feb 16-18.

The Vietnamese foreign

minister's trip will lay the groundwork for a subsequent visit by Vietnamese

premier Vo Van Kiet, the prince said.

U.S. embargo was imposed on what

was then North Vietnam in 1964 and was expanded to cover all of the country when

Saigon fell in 1975.

With U.S. firms on the sidelines, non-U.S.

investment of $7.8 billion has been pledged for 850 projects in

Vietnam.

- AKP & Reuters