Cambodia and Indonesia have agreed to enhance cooperation in key areas including political security, trade, tourism, education, health and agriculture.
Both nations expressed satisfaction on the progress of bilateral relations between the two countries, which have grown in strength in multifaceted areas.
The agreement was made during a meeting in Phnom Penh between Soeung Rathchavy, secretary of state of Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Pahala Nugraha Mansury, deputy minister of Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Cambodian side expressed high appreciation to Indonesia for its assistance in human resource development and welcomed Indonesia’s willingness to provide capacity building in the area related to agriculture such as irrigation system management and fisheries, including aquaculture.
During the meeting, Mansury congratulated Cambodia for its successful general election and expressed full support in working closely with the Cambodian government under the new mandate.
In recognising the importance of food security for the two countries and the region, Mansury said Indonesia intended to import rice from Cambodia and export fertilisers to Cambodia through government-to-government and business-to-business agreement frameworks.
Both sides discussed preparations for the upcoming meeting between Cambodian Prime Minister in-waiting Hun Manet and President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Jakarta and the Fifth Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) between Cambodia and Indonesia in the fourth quarter of this year.
During a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Widodo on August 11, Eang Sophalleth, Hun Sen’s personal assistant, mentioned that Widodo looked forward to working with Manet at the ASEAN Summit and related summits in Jakarta, Indonesia at the end of this year.
“During the summit, Hun Manet would lead a delegation to this important summit,” Sophalleth said.
He added that Hun Sen requested the possibility of Indonesian investors investing 100 percent in Cambodia to set up rice mills, warehouses and a network to buy rice from farmers to maintain stability of exports.
Yang Peou, secretary-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on August 17 that Cambodia and
Indonesia have been keeping the tradition of maintaining a good relationship in the region as well as in the world.
“If you look at the historical aspects of the Cold War, Indonesia and Cambodia are non-aligned countries,” he said.
He recalled that during the peace talks, Indonesia was the co-chair of the Paris Agreement on Peace and Political Solution for Cambodia.
In fact, Indonesia also assisted Cambodia by issuing a statement during the ASEAN Summit 2022 when the latter was unable to do so at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
“From this aspect and as history would show, we can therefore see that Indonesia and Cambodia have always stood by each other and provided support for the common good of both countries and in the interest of ASEAN and the world,” he said.
