French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Prime Minister Hun Manet on January 18-19 in Paris. - Photos: Phnom Penh Post/ANN
PHNOM PENH (Phnom Penh Post/ANN): Prime Minister Hun Manet will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland in the third week of January, marking his first visit to Europe since taking office.
Manet was invited to visit France from January 18-19 via a December 31 letter from Macron. He will become the first foreign leader to meet with the French president in 2024.
While it is Manet’s first visit to Paris as Cambodian prime minister, the visit takes place just two months after King Norodom Sihamoni met with Macron.
The King attended the Fourth Inter-Governmental Conference for the Safeguarding and Development of Angkor in the French capital in November.
“Your first visit to France since your accession to the prime ministership will allow us to make concrete progress on several important sectors which structure our bilateral relationship, particularly in the areas of economics, development, defence, heritage and the Francophonie,” said Macron, in his letter.
“I hope that this trip will make it possible to further deepen our cooperation and diversify it, in order to manage, together, the global challenges we face, particularly in terms of energy transition.
“It will allow us to examine the means we can use jointly to strengthen the rules-based global order, which guarantees the sovereignty and full independence of all states,” he added.
Macron was one of the top world leaders who congratulated Manet when he became the new prime minister of Cambodia in August last year. His congratulatory letter, dated September 19, 2023, reminded Manet that Cambodia is a historic partner of France and the Francophonie in South-East Asia.
“I would like to assure you of my desire to continue with you the close dialogue between our two countries.
“As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of Cambodia’s independence this year, I hope that cooperation between our two countries can achieve further progress, building on the initiatives taken to address the largest challenges of our time, including climate change and poverty, which we have put at the heart of the Paris Agreement for people and the planet,” he wrote.
According to Macron, France and Cambodia also aim to develop new projects in an Indo-Pacific space which is open, and regulated by international law.
Ahead of the trip, Manet held talks with French ambassador to Cambodia Jacques Pellet on December 20. Both sides touched on the close relations between the two countries, according to Manet’s social media channel.
During the meeting, Pellet emphasised France’s continuing and expanding cooperation with Cambodia in the health, digital, economic and infrastructure sectors, as well as their mutual support on the international stage.
Pellet announced that France will support Cambodia’s candidacy to host the Francophonie Summit in 2026, which is slated to be attended by more than 90 heads of state and government. The talks also touched on Manet’s upcoming official visit to Paris, which will be “warmly welcomed”. - Phnom Penh Post/ANN
