Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Sunday that the Kingdom attached great significance to the vision for an Asean-China partnership that all parties have outlined and are set to achieve by 2030.
Hun Sen made his comments on Facebook as he attended the 22nd Asean-China Summit and the 35th Asean Summit and Related Summits in Bangkok. The latter is held from November 2-5 under the theme Advancing Partnership for Sustainability.
“Asean and China should make concerted efforts to turn the 2030 joint vision into actual implementation for the effectiveness of our strategic partnership and shared future,” he said.
He said all parties were committed to promoting and strengthening cooperation on three main pillars – political security, economic cooperation and socio-cultural cooperation.
Asean and China, he said, welcomed the ongoing promotion of their cooperation and were encouraged by the progress of negotiation on the finalisation of a blueprint for the South China Sea Code of Conduct.
The two sides were expediting the process to meet the deadline to which all parties agreed, he said.
Hun Sen continued that the leaders of Asean and China had also emphasised the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would escalate disputes in line with the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
On Asean-India relations, he said Cambodia supported ongoing dialogue to draft new action plans for 2021-2025.
“Cambodia would like to encourage Asean and India to highly prioritise the strengthening and expansion of trade and investment to achieve the goal of reaching $200 billion in trade by 2022.
“More importantly, Cambodia would like to encourage more cooperation for physical and digital connectivity between Asean and India, especially for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam through financial and technical aid,” he said.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan told The Post on Sunday that solidarity and strong cooperation is of utmost importance for Asean member states, regardless of the size of their gross domestic products.
“We will share a future with all Asean members. Our regular summits demonstrate solidarity among Asean nations,” he said.
Kin Phea, the director-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia’s International Relations Institute, echoed Siphan’s remarks. He said the summits provide Cambodia with an opportunity to raise its concerns and initiatives on regional and international issues.
“It reflects our foreign policy and our expansion of international cooperation with other countries in the region, especially within the Asean framework, because consensus is the Asean principle, and its decision represents that of all member states,” he said.
