Viet Nam, Cambodia underscore significance of maritime security and safety

The two Prime Ministers called for strengthening trust, avoiding the use or threat of force, abiding by international law, and settling disputes via peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The pair voiced support for serious and full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and accelerate the conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea in line with international law.

In the face of complicated and unpredictable situation in the region and the world, they agreed that Viet Nam and Cambodia need to foster coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially ASEAN and Mekong sub-region mechanisms; make active contributions to consolidating ASEAN solidarity and unity and promoting ASEAN centrality for peace, stability, cooperation and development across the globe.

On bilateral ties, the two sides agreed to further defense and security cooperation based on the principle of not allowing any hostile forces to use one's territory to harm the other's security and interests.

The two Prime Ministers vowed to effectively enforce current agreements to maintain political stability, security, social order and safety in each country; combat transnational crime such as human trafficking and drug smuggling.

They agreed to step up connectivity between the two economies in terms of both hard and soft infrastructure as well as policies; give priority to digital transformation cooperation; and assist each other in building independent and self-reliant economies.

The two-way trade increased by nearly 80 percent on year to US$9.5 billion in 2021. The figure reached US$8.45 billion in the first ten months this year.

Vietnamese investors are running 198 projects in Cambodia with total registered capital of US$2.92 billion, ranking top among ASEAN Member States and 5^th among foreign investors in Cambodia.

The two Prime Ministers emphasized the importance of border trade and economic development cooperation along the shared land borderline.

They welcomed the signing of signing of a border trade agreement on the occasion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's ongoing visit to Cambodia.

On border demarcation, the two sides agreed to respect and fully implement the border treaties signed between the two countries while stepping up talks to seek satisfactory solutions to the remaining 16 percent of undemarcated land boundary and handling emerging issues under the spirit of solidarity and friendship, thus contributing to building the shared borderline of peace, stability and cooperation.

The two Prime Ministers also agreed to bolster cooperation in such areas like education and training, transport, agriculture, information and communication, finance-banking, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Prime Minister Pham thanked Cambodia and expressed his wish that the neighboring country would continue creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese community to integrate into the host society, thereby contributing to socio-economic development course in Cambodia, and to cementing the friendly relations between the two countries.

Pham highly valued the contributions of Cambodia as the current Chair of ASEAN 2022, expressing his belief that Cambodia will successfully host the 41^st and 42^nd ASEAN Summits and related summits in the coming days.

After the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of 11 cooperation documents between the two countries./.