Cambodia’s National Assembly (NA) and its counterpart in neighbouring Laos committed to strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation and support each other on the international stage, to promote the relationship between the two parliaments through personal contacts.

NA president Heng Samrin and his Lao counterpart Saysomphone Phomvihane held a bilateral meeting on November 25 following the close of the 43rd AIPA General Assembly (AIPA-43) summit hosted by Cambodia from November 20-25.

Phomvihane congratulated Cambodia for successfully hosting the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and related meetings as well as the AIPA-43. He said the successes provides a good example for Laos, which will hold the same summits in 2024 when it takes over the ASEAN rotating chair.

The NA’s press statement said that both parliaments support the progress of the relationship between their nations, which has reached the level of “long-term comprehensive strategic partnership”. The two parliaments said they would promote cooperation to strengthen all sectors of both countries.

Samrin also accepted Phomvihane’s invitation to attend the Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (CLV) parliamentary summit which will be hosted in Laos next year.

He also said he regarded the exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries’ parliaments as an opportunity to promote friendship and traditional cooperation, which now has a 66-year history.

In addition to exchanging views on politics, society and economics, the two parliamentary leaders also signed a memorandum of understanding along with an additional memorandum signed by the secretariats of the two parliaments, which aim to raise their cooperation levels in bilateral and multilateral frameworks.