PHNOM PENH: The heads of government of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos have emphasised the importance of relations and cooperation between them both for development and to maintain peace and stability in the region, during a Friday (Feb 6) trilateral prime ministers’ meeting, held in Phnom Penh.
The meeting was chaired by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, with the participation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.
It took place during a leadership forum of the three nations’ ruling parties, the Cambodian People’s Party, the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.
Manet praised communication at all levels and described the fruitful cooperation among the three countries.
According to a Feb 7 social media post by Manet, he noted the progress made in economic and trade relations in recent years and proposed several initiatives to further enhance trade cooperation, aiming to achieve a trade volume of $700 million with Laos by 2030 and $20 billion with Vietnam in the future.
He encouraged the three countries to continue promoting people-to-people exchanges and broader connectivity through infrastructure, transportation, culture, tourism, electricity and energy, among others.
He also urged working groups to accelerate the identification of connection points for the Phnom Penh–Bavet expressway and the Ho Chi Minh City–Moc Bai expressway.
The three heads of government reiterated the importance of relations and cooperation for development, as well as for maintaining peace and stability in the region.
They promoted political and diplomatic cooperation, information exchange through foreign affairs mechanisms, mutual support within regional and international frameworks, and connections among next-generation leaders.
They also encouraged cooperation in national defence and security to jointly combat cross-border crime, technology-related fraud and non-traditional security threats.
In the areas of trade and investment, Vietnam expressed its readiness to further promote additional investment in Cambodia.
In addition, the three heads of government encouraged enhanced connectivity among the three countries, including physical infrastructure, transportation, electricity and energy, as well as education and training, in order to contribute to the economic development of each country and to promote tourism under the concept of “Three Countries – One Destination”. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
