Cambodian, Vietnamese to discuss ties, cooperation next week

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will meet with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh next week to discuss possibilities to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. The two top diplomats would co-chair the 13th meeting of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission for Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation to be held from Feb. 10-11 in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, said a ministry's press statement. At the end of the talk, both sides will sign the agreed minutes of the meeting, the statement said. Besides, Pham Binh Minh will pay a courtesy call on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace. Cambodia shares 1,270 km of border with Vietnam to the east. The two neighbors have enjoyed good ties in trade, investment and tourism. The two-way trade volume reached 3.5 billion U.S. dollars last year, according to the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Cambodia. On the investment side, Vietnam is the fifth largest investor in Cambodia, with 128 projects worth over 3 billion U.S. dollars by 2013. For tourism, Vietnam ranked the largest source of tourists to Cambodia with 850,000 Vietnamese visiting the country last year, said the Cambodian Tourism Ministry.