Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ (right) welcomes President of the Cambodian Senate Samdech Say Chhum in Hà Nội on Monday. The Cambodian legislator began the three-day visit to Việt Nam on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and President of the Cambodian Senate Samdech Say Chhum stated that Việt Nam's and Cambodia's traditional ties are 'a valuable asset' that must be preserved in a volatile world.

They made the remarks during the official talks on Monday with the Cambodian legislator on a three-day visit to Việt Nam.

The Cambodian senate leader thanked the Vietnamese for the warm welcome, expressing his belief that the visit would contribute to the consolidation and expansion of solidarity and cooperation between the two legislative bodies as well as between the two countries and people on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

He said Cambodia valued the support from Việt Nam in all of Cambodia’s historical eras, stressing that his country maintains a firm stance in nourishing the traditional relations in the spirit of “sound neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-standing stability.”

The Cambodian legislator extended an invitation to Vietnamese NA Chairman Huệ to the 43rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) hosted by Cambodia in November this year, thanking the Vietnamese for the material and human resources training support.

The two sides also briefed each other on the domestic situations in recent times, agreeing that despite serious impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and complicated, unpredictable global developments, trade values between Việt Nam and Cambodia in the first eight months of 2022 reached US$7.7 billion, up 19 per cent over the same period in 2021.

Việt Nam is the leading country in ASEAN and among the top five largest investors in Cambodia, while the number of Vietnamese tourists to Cambodia is the highest in the world.

The Vietnamese NA Chairman congratulated Cambodia on their role as ASEAN Chair and AIPA President as well as Cambodia’s successful organisation of the election of the commune and ward councils, and believed that Cambodia would continue to accomplish many new and greater achievements in national construction and development.

Việt Nam is willing to boost cooperation with Cambodia in human resources training, including undergraduate and post-graduate levels, and prioritise training courses for Cambodia’s officials of various management levels with more diverse forms, NA Chair Huệ said, adding that the establishment of the Việt Nam studies faculty at Cambodia's Royal University of Phnom Penh will help raise the quality of Cambodian students studying in Việt Nam.

The two sides also urged authorities to soon complete the demarcation of the remaining 16 per cent of land border to bring about a ‘border of peace, cooperation and development.’

The Vietnamese top legislator said he hoped the President of the Senate and the Senate pays attention to, supports, and creates favourable conditions for the issuance of legal documents to people of Vietnamese origin, including the naturalisation and relocation of people of Vietnamese origin in the Tonle Sap area, as well as support Vietnamese businesses and the Vietnamese community to do business and live in Cambodia in long-term.

He also asks the Cambodian Senate to facilitate cooperation agreements to resolve issues related to Vietnamese and Cambodian people living in each other country on the basis of principles of international law and in accordance with conditions and circumstances of the two countries.

Huệ suggested strengthening exchanges and consultations on strategic issues related to security - development of the region as well as of each country; enhancing efforts to maintain solidarity, unity, and the central role of ASEAN in regional security issues, uphold ASEAN's principled stance on the South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea) such as guaranteeing security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, bolstering trust-building on the basis of international law, settling disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), strictly and fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and soon moving towards a substantive, effective, effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

At the talks, the NA Chair thanked Cambodian authorities for working closely with the Vietnamese in the successful rescuing of many Vietnamese citizens who were scammed and forced to work illegally at a number of foreign business establishments in Cambodia, and proposed continued cooperation in solving this problem.

Regarding economic, trade and investment cooperation, Huệ suggested that the two countries accelerate the completion of the "Master Plan for Linking Việt Nam-Cambodia Economies until 2030,” and agreed to promote the two Governments to soon sign a border trade agreement, and effectively implement the Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection and the Agreement on Avoiding Double Taxation.

The two countries’ legislative bodies should conduct more exchanges and high-level delegation visits to share experience and expertise in supervision and law-making efforts on national important issues, and coordinate to promote the expansion of cooperation between the two Governments and peoples, NA Chair Huệ and Cambodian Senate President noted. — VNS