Foreign minister Prak Sokhonn and his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son co-chair the virtual meeting on Tuesday. MFAIC
The Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission on Economic, Cultural, Scientic and Technological Cooperation announced that 2022 will see significant milestones achieved in the bilateral relations, making it a “year of friendship”.
The announcement came during their 19th meeting co-chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son via videoconference on December 21.
A press release issued by the foreign ministry said that despite the complicating developments caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Cambodia and Vietnam have maintained close relations and cooperation across all sectors of government and society.
It said the meeting demonstrated the firm commitments of both countries to further enhance and deepen the bilateral relations and cooperation built on their traditional friendship, neighbourly regard and comprehensive strategic partnership.
“Both sides also shared the view that 2022 will be filled with significant milestones in the bilateral relations between Cambodia and Vietnam as the two countries will commemorate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. We agreed that 2022 would be the “Year of Friendship between Cambodia and Vietnam.”
Topics discussed at the meeting included political security, trade, investment and socio-cultural cooperation, and both sides also agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on education for 2021-2025.
Sokhonn requested that Vietnam provide more scholarships to Cambodian students in the fields of industrial engineering, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), mechatronics, software development, electronic engineering, physics, data science, mathematics and STEM education in general.
The press release added that both sides agreed to implement the MoU signed by the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding cooperation in the field of forestry for 2017-2022 and to accelerate negations on an MoU on sanitation.
Cambodia and Vietnam also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of public health, communicable diseases control and non-communicable diseases through the exchange of information, experiences and best practices. They also expressed appreciation for the mutual support – both in finance and medical supplies – provided in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the press release, the two sides agreed to step up coordination on combating transnational criminal offences such as drug and economic crimes, fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, illegal border crossing, cybercrime, illegal logging and timber trafficking. Natural resource crimes, illegal fishing, illegal trade of wildlife, illegal trade in chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, arms trafficking and the smuggling of weapons and ammunition were also on the agenda.
Both sides underlined their commitment to support each other within multilateral frameworks such as ASEAN and the UN.
The Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh said on December 20 that despite the ongoing complications caused by Covid-19, the two countries have made efforts to maintain momentum in the further development of their relations and increasing cooperation in all fields.
Heng Kimkong, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland and a visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Centre, said it was great to see Cambodia and Vietnam engaging so productively and expressing such strong sentiments of mutual support for each other in these bilateral talks.
“However, at the same time, Cambodia needs to find ways to work with Vietnam to address key issues concerning border demarcation and the presence of illegal immigrants from Vietnam in Cambodia,” he said.
