Phnom Penh (VNA) – Vietnam🐓ese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhand▨ his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Techo Hun Sen attended theVietnam-Cambodia trade and investment promotion forum in Phnom Penh on November 8.

The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, the Council for Development of Cambodia, and the CambodianMinistry of Commerce. At the forum, participating businesses expressed their trustin the future of the two countries as well as their trade and investmentincentives. They hoped the two countries’ ministries and agencieswould create more favourable conditions and promote investment and trade,especially in the fields of agriculture and agricultural product processing, construction,infrastructure, tourism, trade services, and border trade. Leaders of ministries and agencies answered questions raised by participants, and introduced projects as well as potential and strengths of each country. Speaking at the event, PM Chinh said Vietnam has so far investedover 2.93 billion USD in Cambodia, becoming the top ASEAN investor and one ofthe five biggest foreign investors in the country. Meanwhile, Cambodia now has 28projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 70.12 million USD, Vietnam is now one of the three biggest trade partners ofCambodia, with two-way trade hitting 9.54 billion USD in 2021, up 79.1%year-on-year. The figure went up 16.7% year on year to 8.45 billion USD in the first nine months of 2022 and is likely to surpass 10 billion USD this year. Having highly evaluated Cambodia’s improving business environment, PMChinh expected that continued attention will be paid to tackling difficulties facedby Vietnamese enterprises there. He said after over 35 years of renewal, Vietnam has recorded important achievements and its economy is now worth over 360 billion USD with an income per capita of more than3,700 USD in 2021. The country's foreign trade currently reaches 670 billion USD, ranking among the world's top 20 economies in terms of international trade. Vietnam already signed 15 free trade agreements with over 60 countriesand territories worldwide, including the world’s largest markets. Vietnam pursues a foreign policy of independence,self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of ties; being a goodfriend, a reliable partner and a responsible member of the internationalcommunity; determined to build an independent and self-reliant economy that isable to withstand external fluctuations and actively integrate into theinternational community in a practical and effective manner; and taking internalstrength as a basic, long-term and decisive factor, and external force as an important breakthrough, he said. The Vietnamese leader suggested enhancing connectivity andcomplementarity between the two economies, focusing on institutions, finance,transport infrastructure, electricity, telecommunications and tourism.

He proposed the two countries’ concerned agenciesand businesses regularly share experience and support each other in formulatingpolicies to maintain macroeconomic stability, improve the business environment and attractquality foreign investment.

PM Chinh called for continuing to promote and bring intoplay the effectiveness of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee; speed up theimplementation of the signed agreements and the Framework Agreement♍ onconnecting the two economies till 2030, as well as completion of the project onbuilding a master plan to connect the two economies.

The PM asked Vietnamese and Cambodian investorsand enterprises to pool resources and hasten projects to ensure their schedule andquality in line with regulations. In the spirit of “harmonising interests,sharing risks”, PM Chinh affirmed that Vietnam always offers all possiblesupport to the two countries’ enterprises to do business effectively.

He believed that the ties between Vietnam andCambodia will advance to a new height for prosperity of each country and benefit ofthe two nations' people.

PM Hun Sen, for his part, said Camboꦏdia hasupgraded infrastructure and improved its business environment and it has been chosen by manyVietnamese firms, especially those operating in agriculture and telecoms.

Cambodia encourages and creates favourable conditions for enterprises to invest more in the country, particularly in agriculture, processing industry and light industry, he said. The Cambodian Governmentissued mechanisms and policies to make Cambodia more attractive to investorsand encourage them to connect with Cambodian partners to join the global supplychains, the PM said. The Cambodian leader informed that he had discussed with PM Chinh thepossibility of investing in transport routes, especially an expressway linkingPhnom Penh with Vietnam to facilitate trade, tourism, construction and southerneconomic corridor. On this occasion, Vietnam’s THACOAgriculture Company presented the token of 15 ambulances to the CambodianRed Cross. Earlier, the two leaders attended an exhibition of photos featuringthe two countries, people and their fine neighbourliness, traditionalfriendship and comprehensive cooperation. The event was co-organised by the VietnamNews Agency and the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment./.