Attending the event were Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Head of the Steering Committee for the 2012 Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Year, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Cambodia’s Ambassador to Vietnam Hul Phanny.
When he addressed the ceremony, Deputy PM Phuc stated that when Vietnam and Cambodia first established diplomatic ties on June 24, 1967, it marked a new chapter in the history of the relationship between the two neighbouring countries.
Over the past 45 years, both peoples have stood side by side and supported and assisted each other in the cause for national independence, prosperity and the right to live in peace and happiness, he said.
The traditional friendship and comprehensive co-operation between Vietnam and Cambodia have been continuously consolidated and developed, especially in economics, trade and investment, bringing a benefit to both peoples, he added.
Ambassador Phanny stressed that Cambodia will always remember and remain deeply indebted to the Vietnamese Party, State and people for their support and assistance in ousting the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979.
He said he hopes that the solidarity, friendship and co-operation between Vietnam and Cambodia will develop further in the future, contributing to building a strong and united ASEAN.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and Cambodia increased from US$1.8 billion in 2010 to US$2 billion in 2011. This figure is expected to increase to five billion USD in the next five years.
Both countries have installed 240 land markers, 64% of the total 375 markers needed and both countries are pulling out all the stops to finish the job as soon as possible.
On June 24, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, will co-chair a ceremony inaugurating marker No.314 along the border between Cambodia’s Kompot province and Vietnam’s Kien Giang province.
They will also co-chair the third Vietnamese-Cambodian Seminar on Investment Co-operation in Kien Giang province.