Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the Philippines to import more Cambodian rice and other agricultural products and to invest in Cambodia’s agriculture infrastructure to enable it to export to the Philippines to meet their demands.

The call came on November 10 during a bilateral meeting between Hun Sen and President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. of the Philippines on the sideline of the ASEAN Summits, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the Philippines to import more Cambodian rice and other agricultural products, and especially encouraged the Philippines to invest in the Cambodian agriculture industry, such as in rice milling plants, to increase its export capacity to the Philippines to meet their demands,” said the ministry.

It said the two leaders had noted with pleasure an increase of bilateral trade exchange following the pandemic crisis. They also mentioned the need to promote public and private partnerships and to further bolster two-way trade and investment.

The ministry said that Hun Sen and Marcos shared the same aspirations and discussed measures to further broaden bilateral cooperation, particularly in defense, trade, investment, small and medium enterprises, health services, digitalisation, tourism and people-to-people connectivity.

They also discussed the challenges facing ASEAN, the Myanmar issue, cooperation through ASEAN frameworks and regional and international issues of common concern. The two leaders stressed the critical importance of safeguarding peace in the region, and beyond.