National Assembly (NA) president Heng Samrin meets new Vietnamese ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang at the NA on Tuesday. NA
Vietnam's new ambassador to Cambodia pledged to strengthen relations between the two countries and increase their level of cooperation, while the Kingdom affirmed that maintaining strong bilateral ties remained one of the government’s priorities in diplomacy.
The pledge was made during a meeting between National Assembly (NA) president Heng Samrin and the new Vietnamese envoy, Nguyen Huy Tang, at the NA on December 7.
“[Tang] pledged to [Samrin] that during his diplomatic mission to Cambodia, he would do his utmost to further develop relations and cooperate with Cambodia in the areas of diplomacy, socio-economy, trade and agriculture,” the NA said in a press release following the meeting.
Tang complimented Cambodia on its effective Covid-19 response and congratulated the country on achieving overwhelming success in its vaccination campaign, making it possible for the nation to reopen for tourism.
He also thanked Cambodia for providing funding and medical equipment to Vietnam for its Covid-19 fight.
Tang noted that despite the pandemic, the volume of trade between Cambodia and Vietnam has increased steadily, with Cambodia importing more from Vietnam than ever before.
Samrin said the NA would work to complement the government’s cooperative efforts with Vietnam to jointly achieve tangible benefits for both nations.
“[Vietnam’s] new diplomatic mission in Cambodia will be key to enhancing our existing relations, friendship and cooperation,” he was quoted as saying in the press release.
The NA is now in the process of choosing a company to build a new administrative building with $25 million in aid from Vietnam. So far, some companies including those from Vietnam have bid for the contract. The groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the new building is scheduled for early 2022.
Heng Kimkong, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland and a visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Centre, told The Post on December 7 that as immediate neighbours that share a border, both Vietnam and Cambodia have a strong interest in maintaining long-standing friendship.
“At the same time, Cambodia needs to work closely with Vietnam to address pressing issues such as illegal Vietnamese immigrants and some remaining issues regarding border demarcation,” he said.
