Cambodia to talk with China over bilateral co-op promotion

Cambodia held an inter-ministerial meeting on Monday to discuss and prepare documents for a talk with China in November in order to further enhance bilateral ties and cooperation, officials said.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and was attended by senior officials from various ministries.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Monday's meeting was a preparatory one for the 1st Meeting of China-Cambodia Inter-Governmental Coordination Committee, which would be held in China.

Cambodia and China have witnessed rapid development of bilateral relations in the last decade. He said the ties reached the top level of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation in December, 2010.

During Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit to China in April 2013, the two countries agreed to set up an Inter- Governmental Coordination Committee to jointly implement the Action Plan on the Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation, he said, adding that the committee is co-chaired by Hor Namhong and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi.

"The forthcoming meeting will further strengthen bilateral cooperation in politics; economics and trade; civil aviation and tourism; agriculture; security; culture, health and education; information; and regional and global cooperation," he told reporters after the preparatory meeting.

Sry Thamarong, minister attached to Prime Minister Hun Sen, said recently that the 1st Meeting of China-Cambodia Inter- Governmental Coordination Committee would be held in November in China.

"The meeting will strengthen and expand bilateral ties in all fields as the two countries have been celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations," he told reporters on Aug. 21 after a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

China is one of the top providers of development assistance to Cambodia. Loans and grants from China during the period of 1992 to present have amounted to 2.85 billion US dollars, according to the Cambodia's Finance Ministry.

In terms of economic cooperation, China is the top investor in Cambodia. According to the figures of the Council for Development of Cambodia, from 1994 to 2012, total Chinese investment in Cambodia has reached 9.17 billion U.S. dollars.

China is also one of Cambodia's leading trading partners. Last year, the bilateral trade volume accounted for 2.9 billion US dollars and was expected to reach 5 billion US dollars by 2017.