Mr Triet was accompanied by several senior officials and representatives of 50 Vietnamese businesses who will attend the Vietnam-Cambodia business forum in Phnom Penh. 

The visit, which reciprocates King Norodom Shihamoni’s visit to Vietnam in March 2006, is taking place at a time when the two countries are busy preparing for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Vietnam and Cambodia established their diplomatic ties on June 24, 1967. During the anti-US resistance war, Vietnam received support from the Cambodian administration and people. In turn, Vietnam also helped Cambodia overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime and reconstruct the country. 

Relations between Vietnam and Cambodia have been constantly developing in various areas since 1993. They have exchanged high-level visits with the aim of bringing their comprehensive cooperation to a new height. Notably, during a visit to Cambodia in March 2005 by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, the two sides agreed to develop their ties under the motto of “fine neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term stability” in the near future.

Economically, Vietnam and Cambodia established a Joint Committee for economic, cultural, scientific and technological cooperation in August 2004. Since then, the committee has held eight meetings to review the implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements on economics, politics, trade, military and security affairs, and work out plans of action in the coming years.

Bilateral trade exchanges have also increased considerably, reaching 40 percent per annum. Bilateral trade was valued at US$692 million in 2005 and the figure rose to US$800 million in 2006. The two countries have agreed on many measures to boost economic and trade cooperation and set a target of raising bilateral trade value to US$2 billion by 2010.

The two countries have also paid due attention to developing other potential areas such as education and training, energy, electricity, healthcare and transport. Cooperation between their localities, particularly those which share the common border or are twinned with one another has been enhanced, contributing to consolidating and boosting the traditional friendship, neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. 

In addition to bilateral cooperation, Vietnam and Cambodia have also boosted cooperation in the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Mekong Region Commission (MRC), the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the West-East Corridor (WEC) and the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Development Triangle.  

Vietnam recently organised the 14th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting successfully and joined the World Trade Organisation. It is trying to implement the Resolutions of the 10th National Party Congress and the policy of diversifying and multilateralising external relations, and to integrate well into the region and the world. In this context, the visit is expected to enhance trust between the two countries and reaffirm Vietnam’s external relations policy of attaching importance to developing ties with neighbouring and regional countries, including Cambodia.