Cambodian king visits Vietnam to cement bilateral ties

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni began a 3-day state visit to Vietnam starting on Monday at the invitation of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, local media reported. The visit, the fourth made by Cambodian king since he came to the throne in 2004, will likely elevate further the two countries' neighborliness, traditional friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation. It takes place when the two sides are celebrating the Friendship Year 2012 and the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties (June 1967-June 2012). Visits by both sides' high-ranking leaders were exchanged on a regular basis, with the most recent ones by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in December 2011 and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in April 2012 and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly Chairman Heng Samrin. Bilateral economic ties, including trade and investment, have developed strongly. Two-way trade exceeded 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 and expected to reach 3.4 billion dollars in 2012. Vietnam has invested over 2.4 billion dollars into 112 projects in Cambodia, focusing on rubber planting, mining, oil and gas exploration, energy, telecoms, finance and banking. Security and defense cooperation has also been strengthened to maintain stability and social order along the common border and prevent trans-national crimes.