Politburo member and Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Tran Cam Tu met with Acting Head of State, President of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), and President of the Cambodian Senate Cambodia Hun Sen in Phnom Penh on April 10.
Tu conveyed warm regards and Chol Chnam Thmey New Year wishes from Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and other Vietnamese Party and State leaders to Hun Sen.
He expressed confidence that under King Norodom Sihamoni’s reign, the CPP leadership headed by Hun Sen, and the Government led by Prime Minister Hun Manet, Cambodia will notch even greater and more sweeping achievements this year, and hit its development targets, raising living standards, and further elevating its global and regional standing.
Praising the official visit by the Vietnamese Party official to Cambodia, Hun Sen described it as vivid proof of the strong, durable, and close Vietnam - Cambodia relations.
He congratulated General Secretary and State President Lam and Vietnam’s key leaders recently elected at the 16th National Assembly’s first session, voicing confidence that under To Lam’s leadership, Vietnam will successfully follow the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress, achieve its 2030 goal of becoming a modern industrial developing country with upper-middle income status, and realise the 2045 vision of a high-income developed nation.
Vietnam’s strong, stable, and sustainable development is not only vital for itself but also delivers positive contributions to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region, including Cambodia, he said.
On this occasion, Hun Sen once again expressed profound gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people for their wholehearted and meaningful support, not only in liberating Cambodia from the genocidal regime but also in backing its post-war recovery, national reconstruction and development, emphasising that without the sacrifice and assistance of Vietnam, there would be no Cambodia today.
Both sides expressed satisfaction with the strong and comprehensive growth of ties between the two Parties and countries across various fields, bringing practical benefits to their people. They highly valued General Secretary Lam’s state visit to Cambodia and the co-chairing of the high-level meeting between the two Parties and the high-level meeting among the three leaders of the Parties of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in Phnom Penh on February 6, calling it a historic milestone that injected strong political momentum into bilateral ties and accelerated the effective delivery of cooperation agreements.
Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos are inseparable, Hun Sen said, adding that while existing cooperation mechanisms are valuable, new ones should be explored to further advance regional peace, stability, and development.
On future cooperation directions, the Vietnamese Party official proposed that both sides continue firmly consolidating political trust, considering it the core and consistent factor guiding the entire bilateral relationship. He called for maintaining regular, substantive, and effective high-level exchanges through Party and State channels to intensify the exchange of views, strategic visions, and promptly settle emerging issues.
He also suggested stronger economic connectivity, with a focus on clearing obstacles and bottlenecks, accelerating border economic development, boosting exports, enhancing infrastructure connectivity, facilitating cooperation between border localities and people-to-people exchanges, and increasing economic complementarity through production and supply chain linkages while leveraging each country’s comparative advantages.
The Vietnamese Party and State always attach importance to developing ties with Cambodia, strongly support a prosperous Cambodia, and stand ready to provide assistance within their capacity while sharing development experience for the mutual benefit of their people and for peace, stability, and development in the region, he said.
In response, Hun Sen noted that in today’s complex and uncertain global and regional landscapes, the two countries must strengthen solidarity rooted in traditional friendship and historical bonds, while further bolstering cooperation in economy, trade, and investment.
Both sides agreed to increase cooperation in national defence-security, uphold the principle of not allowing any third party to use one country’s territory against the other, and soon complete border demarcation and marker planting, contributing to building a borderline of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
The two leaders stressed the need to intensify public awareness and education among all social strata, especially the younger generation, about the tradition of solidarity and close ties between the two Parties, States, and peoples. They also pledged closer coordination to firmly counter attempts by hostile forces to distort, incite, and undermine the Vietnam–Cambodia friendship.
They vowed to work closely together on activities to mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year./.
