State President’s upcoming visit to deepen Vietnam-Cambodia ties

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc is due to pay an official visit to Cambodia from December 21 to December 22 following an invitation made by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.

This will mark the first visit to Cambodia by the Vietnamese head of state following the nation’s senior leadership being consolidated after the 13th National Party Congress. For the Cambodian side, it will be the first visit of a foreign head of state this year.

The purpose of the visit is to carry out the foreign policy adopted during the 13th National Party Congress, as well as to show Vietnam's respect and desire to develop relations with neighbouring countries, including Cambodia.

The event takes place amid traditional ties, solidarity, friendship, and comprehensive co-operation between both sides continuing to develop, even though both countries have been suffering from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The occasion is also one of the first activities to start a string of activities aimed at celebrating the "Vietnam - Cambodia, Cambodia - Vietnam Friendship Year" and the 55th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, which initially began back in 1967.

Over the years, joint relations have grown steadily across multiple fields. With regard to politics, both sides have held online talks between their senior leaders and have successfully co-ordinated to organise important bilateral co-operation mechanisms.

Furthermore, defence and security co-operation continues to be consolidated, with the two countries finalising 84% of the demarcation and marker planting work and signing two legal documents on October 5, 2019.

Economic, trade, and investment co-operation between the two nations has progressed, with trade exchanges enjoying robust growth, despite facing plenty of difficulties caused by the pandemic.

During the past 10 months of the year, export turnover between both sides reached US$7.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of 87.5%.

Most notably, Vietnam has run 188 valid Vietnamese investment projects in Cambodia with a total registered capital of US$2.88 billion, ranking fifth among countries investing in the neighbour.

With regard to co-operation in COVID-19 prevention and control, the Vietnamese Government has provided urgent support to the Cambodian side through both money and medical supplies, including equipment and PCR testing kits valued at about US$300,000.

This year alone has seen the Vietnamese Party and Government continue to provide emergency aid to Cambodia with US$500,000 in cash, medical supplies, and equipment, such as 800 ventilators, two million medical masks, and 300,000 N95 masks worth about US$10 million. This demonstrates the country’s practical and effective contributions to the Cambodian Government and people's COVID-19 response efforts.

In response, the Cambodian Red Cross, the Cambodia - Vietnam Friendship Association, and Cambodian people donated 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to the Vietnamese side, one million medical masks, 100,000 N95 masks, 100 oxygen generators, and US$350,000 in cash.

According to Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth, President Phuc's upcoming visit clearly reflects the close-knit relationship between the two sides, whilst simultaneously demonstrating to countries throughout the region and the wider world the friendship between the two nations.

Cambodia supports and praises the nation for successful assuming the role of ASEAN Chair, organising conferences, and contributing to bringing ASEAN co-operation to new heights amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next year will see Cambodia assume the role ASEAN Chair. According to Ambassador Navuth, the two countries' senior leaders often have phone calls or virtual meetings.

This once again shows the spirit of solidarity aimed at helping each other, as well as Vietnamese support for Cambodia's role as ASEAN Chair, especially in the context of ASEAN facing many challenges, such as competition between member states and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The State President's visit to Cambodia will help launch the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Year 2022. The fact that President Phuc leading a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation on the state visit will contribute to strengthening political trust, deepening multi-faceted co-operation, and promoting bilateral relations in a more practical and effective manner.

The visit shows Vietnamese support for important domestic and foreign activities that will take place in Cambodia in the near future such as the National Assembly election in 2023 and the Year of Cambodia as ASEAN Chair 2022.