Vietnam and Cambodia promote comprehensive cooperation in all fields

On December 9, in Siem Reap province, Kingdom of 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 technological cooperation.

Báo Tin Tức•09/12/2025

Photo caption — Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung (left) and Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn signed the meeting minutes. Photo: Quang Anh/VNA

The meeting was attended by leaders and representatives of many ministries and branches of the two countries.

According to a VNA correspondent in Cambodia, at the meeting, in the spirit of friendship, trust and mutual understanding, the two sides discussed the results of cooperation between the two countries in recent times in the fields of politics - diplomacy, national defense - security, economics - trade - investment, culture, tourism, education and training, transportation, etc., as well as cooperation directions in the coming time.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn congratulated Vietnam, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam headed by General Secretary To Lam, on its many important achievements, with its increasingly high regional and international position and role; he believed that Vietnam would achieve its set development goals, soon achieve double-digit economic growth, become a developing country with modern industry and high average income by 2030, and become a developed country with high income by 2045. Affirming that the Cambodia-Vietnam friendship is special and a priceless asset, deeply engraved in the history of each country, Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn emphasized that the achievements each country has achieved are the result of cultivating traditional friendship and supporting and helping each other.

For his part, Minister Le Hoai Trung expressed his joy at Cambodia's strong development and believed that under the leadership of the CPP headed by President Samdech Techo Hun Sen and the dynamism and creativity of the Royal Government, Cambodia will overcome all challenges and realize the goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050; affirming that Vietnam gives high priority to the traditional friendly and cooperative relationship with Cambodia.

Regarding bilateral relations, the two sides highly appreciated the positive developments in the cooperative relationship, especially the successful organization of the high-level meeting between the two Parties (February 2025); senior leaders of the two countries regularly met and exchanged orientations for cooperative relations; cooperation mechanisms were deployed and brought about substantial results, most recently the defense policy dialogue, border friendship exchanges, the meeting between the Defense Ministers of Vietnam - Cambodia - Laos and the search and rescue exercise program. In addition, trade and investment cooperation has changed positively, with bilateral trade turnover reaching 10.4 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2025. Cooperation in other fields continues to be maintained and promoted.

The two sides welcomed the opening ceremony of the Tan Nam - Meun Chey international border gate pair on December 8, witnessed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, helping to increase connectivity, promote traffic, goods circulation and people-to-people exchange. Cooperation between localities of the two countries has developed positively with the successful organization of the 13th Conference on Cooperation and Development of Border Provinces in late November 2025.

In order to implement the agreements and commitments of the two countries' high-ranking leaders, further consolidate the traditional friendship, especially to create breakthroughs in economic cooperation, the two sides agreed to continue to maintain and increase the exchange of high-level delegations and all levels through all channels; step up propaganda about the historical value of the two countries' relations to all classes of people; firmly adhere to the principle of not allowing any hostile force 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.

The two sides agreed to promote the development and connection of infrastructure, border trade, modernize processes and procedures, create favorable conditions for businesses of the two countries to invest and operate effectively in each country; strengthen transport connectivity, exchange of goods; promote cooperation in tourism, education - training, and people-to-people exchange; closely coordinate in the management, use, development and sustainable conservation of water resources, environment and climate change; continue to closely coordinate at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Mekong Sub-region mechanisms.

At the end of the session, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia Prak Sokhonn signed the Minutes of the session on behalf of the two governments. The two sides agreed to hold the 22nd meeting of the Vietnam - Cambodia Joint Committee in Vietnam at an appropriate time in 2026.

Previously, on December 8, Minister Le Hoai Trung had a meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun. At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun expressed his joy and deep impression of Vietnam's achievements in national development in the past year, including the highest economic growth in the region, the successful organization of the country's important celebrations as well as major international conferences; believed that Vietnam would successfully organize the upcoming 14th Party Congress; and conveyed the greetings of CPP President Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet to General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other senior leaders of Vietnam.

Minister Le Hoai Trung thanked Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun for his special affection and best wishes; and conveyed the regards of General Secretary To Lam and senior Vietnamese leaders to King Norodom Sihamoni, CPP President 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.

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

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/viet-nam-va-campuchia-thuc-day-hop-tac-toan-dien-tren-cac-linh-vuc-20251209211136008.htm