The 21st meeting of the Vietnam - Cambodia Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation

As planned on December 9, in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Member of the Standing Committee of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia Prak Sokhonn co-chaired the 21st meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

Central Committee Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Standing Committee Member of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia Prak Sokhonn. (Source: VNA)

The meeting was attended by leaders and representatives from many ministries and agencies of both countries. At the meeting, in a spirit of friendship, trust, and mutual understanding, the two sides exchanged views on the results of cooperation between the two countries in the past period in the fields of politics and diplomacy, defense and security, economy, trade and investment, culture, tourism, education and training, transportation, etc., as well as directions for future cooperation.

Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn congratulated Vietnam, under the leadership of the Communist Party headed by General Secretary To Lam, on achieving many important accomplishments and its increasingly prominent regional and international position and role. He expressed confidence that Vietnam will achieve its set development goals, soon reach double-digit economic growth, and become a developing country with modern industry and high middle income by 2030, and a developed country with high income by 2045. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the Cambodia-Vietnam friendship is special and an invaluable asset, deeply ingrained in the history of each country; the achievements of each country are the result of nurturing traditional friendship and mutual support and assistance.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the Cambodia-Vietnam friendship is special and an invaluable asset, deeply ingrained in the history of each country. (Source: VNA)

Minister Le Hoai Trung expressed his delight at Cambodia's strong development and expressed confidence that under the leadership of the CPP headed by Chairman Hun Sen and the dynamism and initiative of the Cambodian Government, Cambodia will overcome all challenges and realize its goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050; affirming that Vietnam gives high priority to its traditional friendly cooperative relationship with Cambodia.

Regarding bilateral relations, both sides highly appreciated the positive developments in cooperative relations, especially the successful organization of the High-Level Meeting of the Two Parties (February 2025); high-level leaders of the two countries regularly meet and exchange views on the direction of cooperative relations; cooperation mechanisms have been implemented and yielded tangible results, most recently the Defense Policy Dialogue, Border Friendship Exchange, the Meeting between the three Ministers of Defense of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and the Search and Rescue Exercise.

Trade and investment cooperation has seen positive developments, with bilateral trade reaching US$10.4 billion in the first 11 months of 2025. Cooperation in other areas continues to be maintained and strengthened. Both sides welcomed the opening ceremony of the Tan Nam – Meun Chey international border gate (December 8, 2025) witnessed by the Prime Ministers of both countries, which will enhance connectivity, promote transportation, goods circulation, and people-to-people exchanges. Cooperation between localities of the two countries has also seen positive developments with the successful organization of the 13th Conference on Cooperation and Development of Border Provinces (November 28, 2025).

The two sides agreed to continue maintaining and enhancing exchanges of high-level delegations and all levels through all channels. (Source: VNA)

In order to implement the agreements and commitments of the high-level leaders of the two countries, further strengthen the traditional friendship, especially to create breakthroughs in economic cooperation, both sides agreed to continue maintaining and strengthening exchanges of high-level and other delegations through all channels; promote the dissemination of information about the historical value of the bilateral relationship to all segments of the population; firmly adhere to the principle of not allowing any hostile forces to use the territory of one country to harm the other; closely coordinate in border management and prevent and combat all types of cross-border crimes; promote the development and connection of infrastructure and border trade, modernize processes and procedures, and create favorable conditions for businesses of both countries to invest and operate effectively in each country; strengthen transportation connectivity and goods exchange; promote cooperation in tourism, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges. Closely coordinate in the management, utilization, development, and sustainable conservation of water resources, the environment, and climate change; continue to closely coordinate at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, ASEAN, and the Mekong Subregion mechanisms.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Central Committee Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn signed the Minutes of Agreement on behalf of the two governments. Both sides agreed to hold the 22nd meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee in Vietnam at a suitable time in 2026.

Previously, within the framework of the working trip, on December 8, Minister Le Hoai Trung met with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun.

Minister Le Hoai Trung and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun. (Source: VNA)

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun expressed his pleasure and deep impression of Vietnam's national development achievements over the past year, including its leading economic growth in the region, the successful organization of important national celebrations and major international conferences, and his confidence that Vietnam will successfully organize the upcoming 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He also conveyed greetings from CPP Chairman Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet to General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and other high-ranking Vietnamese leaders.

Minister Le Hoai Trung expressed his gratitude for the special affection and good wishes of Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun; and conveyed greetings from General Secretary To Lam and other high-ranking Vietnamese leaders to King Norodom Sihamoni, CPP Chairman Hun Sen, Prime Minister Hun Manet, and other Cambodian leaders.

Minister Le Hoai Trung emphasized the desire to bring the bilateral cooperation to a new level; create a breakthrough in economic cooperation, focusing on promoting the connection of transport between the two countries; strengthen coordination in managing the land border and preventing and combating all types of cross-border crimes. Minister Le Hoai Trung also thanked the Cambodian Government for creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Cambodia to live, work, study and contribute to the socio-economic development of Cambodia.

Minister Le Hoai Trung also thanked the Cambodian government for creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Cambodia to live, work, study, and contribute to Cambodia's socio-economic development. (Source: VNA)

Regarding the tense situation between Thailand and Cambodia, especially in recent days, Minister Le Hoai Trung affirmed that Vietnam is always concerned and closely monitoring the situation, calling on both sides to exercise restraint, reduce tensions, engage in dialogue, respect each other's legitimate interests, and abide by the peace agreement; Vietnam always values ​​and supports efforts to resolve all disagreements through peaceful means, finding long-term stable solutions, for the benefit of the people of Cambodia and Thailand, for ASEAN solidarity, and for a peaceful, stable, cooperative, and developing environment in the region and the world.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ky-hop-lan-thu-21-uy-ban-hon-hop-viet-nam-campuchia-ve-hop-tac-kinh-te-van-hoa-khoa-hoc-va-ky-thuat-337195.html